Adventure Saturday...we met the REAL Ariel!

We had a jam-packed Saturday full of excitement and one massive tantrum. Let's run down the exciting events.

These are my sweet kids who asked nicely all week if we could go to "Burger King" to get a Sponge Bob kids meal toy. We planned it, and went and here they are all sweet and happy waiting anxiously for the glorious Bob toys as the entire store is decked out in images of Bob himself. Alas, this darn Burger King is King of false advertising as we got some dumb Nickelodeon toys instead. Poor kids, they were so heartbroken. When the line died down I spoke with someone and he glanced through the box with kids meal bags and nope, no sponge bob's left. Guess what, this was the second time this happened at this particular burger king. So wrong. And what's crazy is they were out of control, understaffed and couldn't handle the lunch crowd at all. There was crazy beeping all over the kitchen and no one taking orders, he was running back making food too!!!! What a mess.

The McDonald's right next door has their act together. Also, I'm a bit miffed that the kids' meals price adds up pretty quickly because the mac and cheese is extra and the apples are extra and their grilled chicken sandwich is one of the priciest things on the menu. Let's just say we could have gone to Denny's for the same price! And I could have made Kraft Mac and Cheese without sponge bob toys at home for much less!





















We got to go to a kids' party where the REAL Ariel made an appearance! Sylvie was sooo nervous! She held onto that purse and a few of the Bdaygirl's fashion dolls the entire time. She was quite relieved when Ariel came to sing for us, played "Hot Potato" with a tiara, and generally was sweet and fun. We all pushed our stay a bit too long because it was downpouring, but the rain stopped and we headed home. Very ready.

"Mom, what's in Sylvie's hand? Why does she have BdayGirl's toys?"
"Sylvie, I told you we had to leave those there! Well, as soon as we go home, we're mailing them back to BdayGirl."
"No!"
Take them away at home, put into an envelope....
"They are MINE!!! I WANT THEM...." and continue the whining and crying and drama and carrying on for the next 20 minutes and then on and off for the rest of the evening. Oh my! We had talks about how it's not nice, BdayGirl misses her toys, etc. But reasoning with a 3 year old is next to impossible. Logan finally settled her down for good. He was talking to her and came back to inform me...

"Mom, Sylvie is done crying now. I told her we will get her the same toys for her birthday." and went back to play.

Mazes and Modern Development

Modern Development- Did you ever notice that if you live in a wealthy community, everything around you is more expensive, whereas if you live in a lower-level of income area, there are bargains to be had? Obvious but pretty prevalent when you start looking around.

A few things came to my attention lately:
-A new development near us in a very expensive neighborhood contains a Lifetime Fitness and lots of high-end shopping. Including a Kohler Spa. I was over there for a kids' bday party and was shocked at how many high-end things were there amidst the high-end houses, high-end streetlights, and high-end public landscaping.

-Driving along Harlem Avenue (Route 45), a major north-south arterial, you can tell what community you are in by what stores are on Harlem. I was a bit jealous of some of the lower-income areas that had cheaper grocery stores, Family Dollar Stores, Cardinal Fitness (cheaper workout facilities), etc etc. Not so jealous of the junky gas stations, roads that need repair, or falling apart buildings, but still, being closer to cheap shopping for essentials would be nice to lower that monthly shopping bill! We aren't even really close to a SuperWalmart or Meijer or anything, and we're not a "high end community."

-One of the major local grocery chains is lowering their prices. I was all excited and read the comments in the tribune online. So many people said the store is a rip-off and suggested alternate stores for groceries, none of which is within 25 minutes of here. Go figure! Anyway, they were also saying that the pricing seemed to differ tremendously from store to store depending on their location. I have shopped in Indiana and let me tell you, we're getting ripped off on everything here in Chicagoland!!!!

Mazes
I bought a friend a birthday present of a book of mazes by Kumon and couldn't resist getting one for my kids as well. We have a few workbooks of different brands from last summer that are almost gone. My favorite brand is "Big Skills, Little Hands." Logan's teacher suggested keeping up with cutting and tracing skills last summer, so we got these books and both kids love them. They were from Cotsco or Sam's club. So my assessment of the Kumon books is to get them cheap. I saw them at a bookstore for $14 or so. I got them at Target for $6.95. Huge difference! I also like the way the "Big Skills" books have tear-out pages and Kumon's didn't tear well.

But....the mazes are way too cool! How does one get a job doing this?

Sigh....

I grabbed the magazine we get from the University of Washington and came across some photos that made me feel like I was just punched in the stomach. It made me miss Seattle so bad, and be so grateful for my time there. It's not just that I want to visit again, though that would be nice (and expensive), but I miss being immersed in this place. The green, the hills, the mountains, the air, the water, the people, the university culture, all of it. It's like a piece of me is missing and I'll probably always feel that way. When we were there, I missed Chicago. How do people move to many different places and not feel like they left a piece of themselves behind?

Spike Mattford took a year and climbed onto the roof of Safeco Tower (UW Tower) and took these photos over a year's time. Gorgeous.

http://www.spikemafford.com/newwork/viewsfromthetop/

What $42,000 worth of damage to your yard looks like...

Looks kinda scary to me!

Lego Mania

Zach, Zach, he's a lego maniac........

Saturday was a full and busy day going to a wedding for a friend. Sunday Logan woke up, plopped down on the floor with his box of legos and didn't stop creating until I made him go to bed! He always makes neat things, but he would start telling us what he was going to make and then sit and figure out how to make it work. He kept trying to make things with moving parts.

This is my favorite. He calls it a Robot and I love that Spiderman is on the top in a special compartment in the head of the robot.
























Sylvie woke up and decided to learn today. She practiced cutting complex shapes, drawing, gluing, and wanted me to write words for her. We made a little paper dog bed and toys for the dog, and she cut the dog out herself! When she saw me taking pictures of Logan's creation, she set up all of her favorite amigos for me to take pictures of:



















Conversations in the last minutes while I was typing this:

Sylvie: "I need somebody to pwaaaay with me!" (play)

Logan: "Mom, can I have some more broccoli? Mmmm, mom this is so good (smacking his lips)" (had to run over and give it to him before he changed his mind. He's on round 2 of dinner. Maybe a growth spurt is on the horizon!)

Backyard Climbers

I had a swingset growing up and I know how wonderful they can be. It seems every house in America has one nowadays, often the wooden variety. We have a smaller yard with lots of trees, so we have decided that the nice grassy area is better for running games of soccer than a big ol' gymset. Plus, we have a park practically in sight from our house with a big climber and swings.

Today I saw the Toys R Us ad and I have to say I'm impressed by the direction the designs are taking. I have seen a trampoline with a jumping bar on one set, rock climbing walls have been out for awhile. But the "playhouse" portion of the typical wooden set has usually been a tarp over the top. Which wears out. And then the wood on the set fades and it looks like it needs upkeep (at least to me). My neighbors did use a blue stain and their gymset looks adorable and fresh. These new ones have little playhouse-looking tops. And they are really cute! Not that I want one, just happy to see what I consider fun designs going up in the backyards across America:)

Good Night, Good Morning

The kids have been so animated at bedtime and hilarious, dancing and acting out the stories we read. The other day Sylvie unbuttoned her shirt to make it like a cape to be the boy in "No David" and then they were using blankets as capes and then Sylvie put the blanket on her head and walked around saying "Who turned the Lights out?!" I keep wishing I had my camera, so I thought to grab it. Of course it ran out of battery and cut my movie short, but I think it's a cute little interaction between the two kids. Logan is asking about and pointing to the "Star" drawn on the wall if you can't make out the word he is saying. My favorite from this book is what I was trying toget her to say. She says "Who stole the tootie from the tootie jar." (cookie) when David tries to get the cookie jar. Too adorable. Darn running out of batteries camera. Er, darn user for not remembering to charge them:)

Logan is in the habit of bringing alllllll of his friends down and up each morning and night. I couldn't snap fast enough to get them in his arms, but it's quite hilarious. And Sylvie just wanted to say "Good Morning" to her friends in the camera.

No career moves in that direction

There is a family in our lives that has different standards of "housekeeping" than I do. My house is often messy, I get upset when I start seeing dog furballs rolling around and mad at myself when I wait too long between vacuuming. There are nights when the dishes are not done. I'm not perfect.

But this house is beyond my comprehension. The house itself should have been torn down when the family bought it. But instead they have spent 6 years "rehabbing" it. The village has had to step in and demand professionals help with certain pieces of the project. So as it stands, the house has new siding and looks okay at a glance.

We went inside today after an egg hunt and I came home furious. It is just so unfair and I think they are doing their children an injustice by letting them live in such squalor. The kids don't know how to take care of their things because there is nowhere safe to put them that they will not get stepped on. It's not a matter of no cash flow, there has been plenty of money dumped into garage sale junk over the years. And it's not time, the husband has entire summers off of his job to throw into remodeling.

Some things that drive me crazy-
*They remodeled the kitchen with IKEA cabs and took an extra 2 years to finish one strip of tile above the countertops. The framing at the doorways and windows is all exposed, they never put trim on any of it. So it's choppy drywall that's getting ripped to shreds.
*Clutter, Clutter,Clutter. It's not a huge house, but get a grip on buying junk you don't need, can't find, and is broken. Just because it's cheap or free doesn't mean it belongs in your home.
*One bedroom has been declared unuseable after a sizeable splinter on one child's foot. So they moved everything out and bought new laminate flooring for that room the next day. That was 3 years ago. Now that room is covered in old grungy rugs which are covered in every piece of junk you can imagine. Including things well outgrown by their children. And it's never been vaccuumed because it's covered in junk. Not even trash like wrappers, just "stuff." So now their kids share a room and it drives the son and daughter crazy, because they do each have their own room, it's just "unuseable."
*Throughout the entire house there are chunks of plaster falling off the walls and ceiling, exposed wood framing, no trim on any of the windows that have been replaced, exposed electrical boxes and none of the floors meet the walls. There is dirt, dust, animals dander from the dog and hampster and crumbs hanging out in every crevice and you can see it all sitting there.
*Nothing looks "clean." I know from having an older home that spraying some Swiffer type product on your tub will not get you anywhere. To clean my tub I have to use a combination of bleach powders, a stiff scrub-brush, a toothbrush and soft scrub. Not to mention a lot of elbow grease. Nothing has been cleaned with any amount of effort. Ever. She has a few times mentioned she has never really washed the hardwood floors, or does it once a year. Absolutely disgusting, especially looking at the floor.

So I guess all this feels good to type out because I can home so angry I wanted to scream at everyone in the house. And it hit me that I am very happy I am not a social worker or someone who deals with kids that have been abused or neglected in any way. I just cannot handle the news when I hear a parent was horrible to their child or some injustice has been done. I definitely could not come home from a day of walking into a house like theirs, saying "the kids are loved, there is food in the pantry, all is okay" and in good conscience let it continue. I wanted to tear into the mom next door and tell her it's NOT okay to live like that but I didn't. So I guess I'm not brave enough to speak my mind on the subject openly either.

Whew, it feels good to get all that out. Now off to go clean something!

Hoping for a Regular kinda Saturday

Yesterday was Friday. At least I think it was. I wouldn't know. It was a looooooong day! We got up early to get Sylvie to the dentist for her filling. She right off the bat decided this was not happening and I had to do a lot of co-ercing and threatening and bribing. Which is tiring! The dentist is a good ways away, so we got there early and I stopped for a snack since Sylvie really hadn't eaten much. Worked out great and we got there in plenty of time. Ariel was on the tv there so she was all excited and happy and just a bit thrown off when they took her hand to bring her back without mommy!!!!!

So, on my ride down to the dentist, I get some phone calls from Jorge. He is almost positive he has another kidney stone and he is driving so he is turning back from work and heading home. Another call, now he's headed to the ER. Yikes! I'm headed the other direction and this appointment has been a long time coming, so luckily his family can help him out.

So I'm sitting waiting watching the Sea Witch with Logan with my daughter getting a filling on a pretty bad tooth and my husband in the ER. What craziness!

Sylvie did well, though the cavity exposed a nerve so they had to do some major digging and she has to go in 2 more times. Poor baby! So she was numb, crying and done with the dentist. Logan was upset about daddy but I wanted to check in on him at the ER. He had passed the stone by the time we got there, but were waiting for results and his morphine to kick in.

So lots of "you go here with this person, I'll go there with that person" all day long and we now know Jorge has more kidney stones to wait out (yikes! He's had them twice before!) , Sylvie's whole lip is swollen (the doc says it's from biting, not from an allergic reaction). The day was just eternally looooooong. Had to get Jorge's car back from his family, etc. Oh, and the icing on the cake, the ER prescribed meds Jorge is allergic to (duh!), thank goodness Walgreens caught it. So we had a few trips to Walgreens where the pharmacist sized me up making sure I wasn't trying to get Narcotics for my own personal use- as if! But I'm sure it happens all the time.

Today I cleaned like a maniac and the kids are mostly back to normal. Sylvie's lip is still all swollen but the kids are playing again together and Jorge isn't writhing in pain, so let's hope for a normal, uneventful, if busy, Saturday.

Coming out of the fog

We're starting to feel better. Well most of us anyway. But what's left is zero energy, still not up to going out, and cold weather not conducive to getting outside much. So we're feeling lazy. And just when we were all at our wit's end, Sylvie decided to disrobe, which gave me a good excuse to introduce some new jammies Nan bought them. They adore them and it was a bright spot in our otherwise booo-ring evening.

Also, we did color eggs and do an egg hunt. The kids may be sick, but I didn't want to miss out on Easter altogether! Jorge got the pics of Logan's egg hunt since they went to the "big kid" area where there were fights over the "Golden Eggs", while Sylvie and I hung out with the littler ones where the candy was strewn all over the designated area.

Working Moms

I got in a few discussions this weekend about being a mom and working at the same time. I figured I'd throw some of my opinions on "paper" for posterity or to provoke thoughts or whatever.

*Today a woman had her last day at the office. She quit to stay home as a full-time mom. I didn't know her well, but someone said she has 4 kids. I always wondered how people even manage to raise a lot of children while working. I feel for moms I know who have a lot of children by chance but know they have to work to make money.

*I don't know if there is any "Easy" age to leave kids in daycare. When they are little, they are so needy and their awake times are short, so getting home, you get the cranky and bedtime, not so much playtime. When they are toddlers, if you are home, you are always in search of things to do with them as they get so busy and explore. So getting out of the house is a good expansion of their world, be it a babysitter's house or daycare, or even another person in your home to expand their experiences. But it's also when they seem to catch every single germ that wanders by.

Then comes preschool where most people seek some kind of learning setting for their child but it gets so darn complicated with the drop-off and pickup, and expensive, so there's a lot to consider there. Throw in Kindergarten which is 5 days a week of 2-3 hours at a time to make it complex. Grade school is longer days, but who gets off of work by 2:30 every day unless you work AT the school your children attend? And then drop-offs for all ages don't even coincide with your work start time (mine don't.)

*So given all that, if you went to a potential employer at a 40 hour a week job and said "I want to work but I'll need all school holidays off, spring/winter break, summer vacation, and the ability to stay home whenever my kids are sick" you'd probably be shown to the door. I totally understand why a lot of people I know just take split shifts from their spouses and then whoever is not working watches the kids. Throw in an adult case of the flu and you might be screwed, but that could happen without kids as well, so one would hope you would be allowed sick days, paid or unpaid.

*I think being a working mom is a rough job. My personal difficulty is transitioning from the pace of work to the pace of home. And going from being at work where I put a pen down, I pick it up from the same location, and only deal with my own messes, to home where there are spills, messes and messy noses. It's remembering show and tell and what car to drive on what day and where to go.

*But I've been home too and the boredom/ repetitive factor of the mundane everyday activities is a lot as well to handle.

I guess sometimes I totally wonder how the heck some people do it. We have family who is mostly flexible, and we've had to learn to adjust to get things to work. So if you are a mom and you work and you have figured out how to make it work, hooray for you, it's no small accomplishment!

Fashion Plate

We were cruising the aisles at Old Navy while Jorge picked out some new jeans. I found a dress and showed Sylvie and she was instantly in love with it. Then I saw some cute shirts on sale and was oohing and aahing over them. She took one look and stood back and said:

"I'm not so sure about those Mom." and walked away.

Looks like I'll have to bring her with me on any clothing shopping trips. And by the time she's 9, I'm seriously going to have clothing issues, I just know it!

Funnies

Sylvie has been sick, so we've done a lot of hanging out at home. A lot of funny things have been said of late. Here are a few.... (I'll spare the bodily fluid-related comments that are in abundance with this illness)

*(from deep asleep on my lap) "My Sister Ariel wants me to go swimming with her. And I can't find her!"

*(sweet off-key singsong voice) Logan: "I am sad when I am playing....." "Mom, I made that song up. I know lots of songs." Sylvie in her singsong voice, to the same tune "One day when I grow up I will be a real Cinderella."

*(playing at the Batman Cave) Sylvie "I am Buzz Lightyear and I need to go the bathroom" Logan "We don't have a bathroom at this Bat Cave."

As a side note, Logan has been completely lost without Sylvie as his little playmate. When she perked up after the walk, he was all excited to play with her and when she changed her mind, he got really upset. It makes me so happy to have given them the gift of each other. :)

Allergies

I am allergic to work.

Well, at least to the office. Most offices in springtime and summertime. Because they throw air conditioning through the space. AC containing mold, dust and who knows what.

I've been dealing with a lot of allergy things this week, it's getting annoying. And the kids must have heard me speak of it once too often because today Logan said:

"Mom, I'm allergic to cats." (because he was watching Tom and Jerry and I was talking on the phone about allergies)

"And mushrooms." (because Sylvie was getting praised for eating them and he needed a good excuse that would keep me from making him try them.)

Too hilarious! Ah-ah-choo! Must....take...allergy....meds....that....work.....

Aaaahhhh! Watch out behind you!

There is a DINOSAUR at the zoo!!!! He even moves and roars- How exciting! I had a fantastic day with some friends and their kids today at the zoo. Whew, we all need a day in the sun right? The kids were really good. Only one Sylvie meltdown and it was fueled by hunger, so that's easy to fix.

Thank you to all of you who wrote personal messages about my last post. It's amazing how we all go through the same things in different ways. I feel very loved to have gotten so many nice messages and hopefully we will all be in a different place by summer (including this country!)

Blah

I'm feeling so blah and uninspired lately. I don't love what I do at my job, I am a bit p'o'd at the company for who they are and there are a lot of lag times where there is not a lot to do, and that makes me feel worse. I worry I will lose my job constantly. Nothing like the head of company popping over to your cubicle on your "Friday" to make you freak out. I feel uninspired by work. Annoyed with the kids. They both have colds so I can't even understand what they are saying and the other night Logan's medicine got him hyper (it was recommended by the doc) and I just don't have the patience to deal with Sylvie's incessant non-sleeping issues (she's still sitting behind me after a crying fit at 9:40 pm on a non-nap day). I have been sick on and off all winter and I'm just done not feeling my 100%.

Money is always a stressor and I'm getting pretty underpaid right now, especially after the big paycut. But it's not like A- there are any jobs out there in my field or B- anyone who is hiring is paying anything decent. And heck, let's increase the cost of everything. Police are ticketing like crazy, I see 5 police every day on my 15 minute drive to work. There are cameras at all the main intersections and I keep hearing that people are getting tickets for not stopping at the exact perfect place before turning on red and getting tickets in the mail for $100!!! The news always gets me more riled up, I try to avoid it actually, they are so sensationalist. Can't cheer for the stock market for more than a minute, must hear about some child that did some horrendous thing to someone. Or about some company who just did big layoffs. I'm overwhelmed that I don't seem to care about some things. I spent years trying to get past not having a total say or input or knowledge of my kids every day activities and now I'm sad that it doesn't matter that much what they did. I want to be a "teacher" type and I don't really feel like I'm good at that. I don't feel like I'm good at making a routine, we do a lot of different things and then I get bored of them. I feel like I should shake my life up, and I know moving, having another child, switching jobs or careers is a really dumb move right now. And my kids are in a good school, I'm so excited about having all that picked out- that's a huge peace of mind in itself. I wish I could devote my attention to more things, be on top of the cooking, meal-planning, raising the kids. And I am. In spurts. And not all at once. I wish I had more patience for it all. But instead I feel restless. Big time.

I know I could be a million times worse off. I have a good family, live in a good place, gorgeous kids and a husband who loves me, surrounded by family, a religion and a church, have friends, have balance of work and home enough to clean my house and keep up with the laundry and still bring home a paycheck. I feel like I am not allowed to be disappointed in this stage of my life, especially in this economy. I need to be happy that I'm surviving it. But on my blog, I'm allowed to be whatever I want, so here it is. I'm not thrilled with it all right now. And don't really have a good sense of why or what I need to make it all better. Jorge says I need to do some soul-searching. I guess so. Any insight on how to do that?

PS- Sylvie is suddenly snoring on the couch behind me. That's a good thing:) Hoping tomorrow we can get out (though I did hear the word "Snow"!) and we can go to the zoo with friends and enjoy Logan's "Spring Break. " Is it bad that I keep ignoring the neighbor boy who wants to come play? I really don't like him. And I especially don't like being his babysitter. He breaks our toys.

PPS- If she's asleep, why oh why is Blue's Clues still on?

Hoping for a better tomorrow.

Playtime

Hey, it's Spiderman's Birthday! Let's all sing! Guests include: Little Mermaid, Baby from dollhouse, Spiderman, and Pip, Pop, Tutter, Ojo and Bear from the Big Blue House




















Bear being bossy




















Change of plans. Now it's Batman's Birthday. Let's sing again.



















Move over Thomas trains, Action Figures have taken over. Yes, we have little plastic bins to put them all away in. Yes, he has grandparents who buy a lot of toys. No, I don't miss Thomas and Percy all that much. He's much more imaginative nowadays!





















Batman's spacecraft- who knew?




























An Ariel doll who blows bubbles. What could be better?

Taking the Dog for a walk...Sylvie style

This story is from my mom and if you hate dogs or don't ever walk them, then skip this particular story.

Sylvie decided to take a walk with her doll stroller outside today. And chose her toy puppy to bring for a ride in it. After a bit, she stopped and said...

"Nan, I think my puppy has to go poop." So she took the dog out of the stroller (yes the beanie baby type puppy she sleeps with at night), put it on the grass in a squat position, and let him "go."

Oh my goodness she is one hilarious kid!

In Logan news he is currently obsessed with SuperHeroes and newly introduced to GI Joes. He wanted to play earlier and his idea of playing was me holding a stuffed McDonald's puppy while he had a Spiderman with suction cups on his hands. The object of the game was for me to repeat in excruciating detail each and every action his spiderman did with my dog. For 30 minutes or so. I personally think he needed to get some "bossiness" out of his system.

Spin Cycle

"Mommy, my doll is all clean now."

"Great! What are you doing with her now?"

"Drying her."

The Clown and the Inventor

I brought up some empty pop boxes from the basement to bring out to the recycling now that we can walk through the alley (no ice or snow drifts!) I decided to let the kids play with them. They fought about it at first, then I pretended I was a monster and after that, they played really well. Sylvie kept clowning around with the boxes. Logan tore them, rearranged them and made them into an "Airplane 3000" complete with guns and secrete buttons that, once pressed, would cause Logan to spin in a circle. I love seeing their little personalities. And boxes, as always, are a kid's best friend right?

Sometimes they really do listen!

We were walking outside in a recent warm-ish day and to distract the kids I told them every house has a name and started naming some on our street "Ranch" "Farmhouse" "Georgian" "Yellow House." I like to teach them about some architecture in a subtle way. That day they were not listening, and wouldn't stop whining that mom made them walk outside (they got this from my husband for sure!) and it was windy and the sidewalk was wet, whine whine whine.

So a week later, I'm in the front waiting for Logan's bus with Sylvie and she says "What is our house's name again? And the one across the street? What's that called?" Oh, our house is called "Georgian" by the way:)

She remembered!

Good Evening:)

Tonight was such a good evening!
*I got home and walked on the treadmill and talked to my mom on the phone BEFORE eating dinner. Always think I'll do this, never do it!
*Ate a really healthy dinner while kids were winding down
*Sylvie followed me around like a puppy dog, but there was none of the typical whining about everything
*Read some books on the couch with Sylvie.
*Did some arts and crafts
*We played Bat Cave, Princess Castle, Princesses and Superheroes mostly successfully. Without too many fights
*While we played all of that, I watched the "Biggest Loser" on DVR. Totally loving it so far! The teams getting off track made me all excited to stay on track
*Started doing leg lift type exercises. Sylvie copied and we all did some exercises together for awhile- fun!

And my highlight of the night...Sylvie saying...
"This is my favorite new friend. Her name is 'Silverware.'" What these kids come up with is so funny sometimes!

I heard some yawns, there is a chance the kids will go to sleep more willingly than the rest of the week. We shall see!!!

For one little minute....

Sylvie's bedtime story to stall me from leaving her in bed alone....

"Mommy, when I was a little baby,
For one little minute,
I got food for myself when I was hungry,
And I put it in the oven,
And it made me get bigger and bigger,
And then one day I was three.
That's what it was like when I was a little baby."

Boys can wear Pink too!

Pink eye that is. Oh joy.

Generation: i-phone

Jorge has an i-phone. My in-laws have i-phones. It is par for course that at one of our big sit-down family dinners at a restaurant that last 2 hours someone whips out their i-phone for Sylvie. She likes the silly games and knows very well how to use her little finger to navigate around. Better than I do! (I have one of those old-fashioned "flip phones" that maybe I'll save for my kids to laugh at someday). The touch screen is something she's very used to now.

So I shouldn't be surprised that when I clicked the tv onto On Demand and 4 shows came up in 4 squares, she walked over to the tv and deliberately pressed the "button" she wanted to come alive. I told her "It doesn't work that way yet Sylvie, but someday....it will."

Keep your wits about you.....

There is a new bike rider in town!

Next on the "To Do" list, learning to steer.

Running, Running, Running

Just a little deep thought for the day. I read a book "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" awhile ago. In the book she refers to different stages of one's life. 'Rice and salt days' is where I am right now. The days of labor, raising chilren, creating your life. And this part of my life is busy. Not too busy, I have plenty of "down-time." You know, time to sit and inhale information in all forms- written, conversations, internet, tv, music, etc. But in general, this is the busy time of keeping a house, raising kids, forming a career and indulging in hobbies and relationships.

One thing I am always struggling with is making time to be active. My days at home are relatively active, I'm on the go, running the kids here and there, chasing them on the playground equipment in warm weather, or climbing the stairs all over the house hauling things and little people from one level to another. And yet, I know somehow, to lose any real weight with this body, I need to really exercise. So I hop on the treadmill once in awhile, or take a walk with the dog, or take a bike ride. But it's always at the loss of something else- time with my kids, time doing taking care of the house, it becomes my "free time" activity as someone else usually has to be watching my children for me.

I don't particularly love being active. I do like taking walks and riding my bike, I'm not a huge fan of a health club type atmosphere (though I like lifting weights on their machines), so I constantly feel guilty that I don't make this a priority.

So, this brings me to my deep thought. Lately, a few times, I have come across some local elderly walking at a very slow, deliberate pace and it really hit me. It make me feel even more guilty for not getting in more exercise while I can and do have the ability to do so. It also struck me that this phase, this turbo-charged life that is on hyper-drive, will change into something else, a new phase, at some point. My body will slow down, my life will slow down, and I will probably walk slowly into Trader Joe's and watch another younger woman and her 3 year old enjoying the thrill of piling the cart high with grocery after grocery and counting down the minutes it takes to accomplish one of the 12 activities on their "to do" list. I guess it isn't a big revelation, but it has been on my mind.

Bassinet to Crib to Big Girl Bed

First we brought her home and she would only sleep here...

Or here.....

Or here......

Then she finally started sleeping here....

And finally, we have graduated to a Big Girl Bed! Let's hope it helps with some of the Big Girl sleep issues. I'm hopeful that the nighmares slow down now that she's surrounded by princesses. She may outgrow it in a year, but we have to take advantage while we can, her room is the size of a shoebox! But she loves it:)