Preschool Silliness

In case you are low on preschool silliness, here's your daily dose:

Enough talk, here's some pictures

Never posted these great pictures of our time with Jim's parents.

Thursday thoughts.

Our shed door is frozen shut. definitely not locked, just won't open. I'm imagining a tiny rabbit inside holding the door closed while I pull on the outside handle. But to my knowledge, they actually only they live under the shed, not in it.

I dreamed we had a chicken coop last night. Must be a sign. Of what, I don't know.

Adam's sleep is still better than it used to be, but we aren't making through the night anymore. Seems like there's a stretch from 10-11 that he just isn't happy being alone. That's better than 2:30-3:30 at least.

I went out to get our mail the other day, and our neighborhood mailbox was completely gone. Just not there. Post office says it fell down while the carrier was filling it and it will be restored to its location ASAP (probably within a week). Meanwhile, we need to pick up our mail at the post office. Strange. Glad it's their property, not ours.

Its cold again here.

Laura scored a 146 in Wii bowling the other night. That has become part of our nightly routine. We eat, all clean up the kitchen, then Jim, Laura and I play one game of Wii bowling, then the kids go to bed. Its a good way to interact and cheer for each other and it fills the time between eating and getting ready for bed. Glad we got the Wii. Did I ever write that we got a Wii? We got one before Christmas, and its been good for all of us. I said I never wanted a gaming system in the house, but I'm glad we have this one.

I'm glad that I am a stay at home Mom.

When its good, its really good

I'm very tentative to write this down because I don't want to jinx it, but I also don't want to miss the opportunity to celebrate. So here's goes:

Adam has slept 2 nights completely unassisted. No nursing to sleep, no midnight hugs or back patting. A few short squeaks, but he got himself back to sleep every time.

And the even bigger news: Jim put both kids to bed last night, alone! I have a monthly meeting that I have been skipping for several months because Adam still nursed to sleep and absolutely couldn't stay up late enough to wait for me. But we gave it a try, and it was a splendid success. He didn't even cry himself to sleep (neither Jim nor Adam), he just drifted off to dreamland peacefully. It actually sounds like it went better than when I put him down. Maybe this could become the new routine!

I realize that many people might say "its about time!" After all, he is 14 months old. Maybe they are right. I'm not sure that I would nurse another child to sleep again. I'd like to say that I would be smarter the next time around and start them off "right", but I have to be honest and say that I would probably follow the similar path I used with both Laura and Adam. It just seemed like the right thing to do at that time. For the most part I enjoyed the cuddling, having them sleep close to me in bed, and it seemed to be what they needed. Yes, it caused some serious sleep problems for Jim and me and at several points, I cursed myself for not letting them cry it out earlier. Adam was actually twice as old as Laura when he stopped nursing to sleep. Wow. Its been a rough year, and I know that we're not done with night-waking. But I am grateful for the 2 nights of rest and someday I'll look back and remember that this was the beginning of the end of the "middle of the night infant comforting". I wonder how bad the "middle of the night toddler comforting" will become? I know you are all on the edge of your seats. Stay tuned...

Raspberries on bellies

Lying on my back, making a tent with a blanket, using my arms and legs as poles. Two munchkins crawling and tumbling over and around me. The older one is in a ceaseless stream of chattering about The Lion King, which she has never actually seen but pretends constantly. This is not for the faint of heart. Hands and feet, elbows and knees flailing. I am lying in a very vulnerable place, down on their level. The scariest are the bowling ball heads flopping unpredictably. I am waiting for the inevitable clonk to end the fun, whether it is against each other, or my nose, or a puzzle piece hidden under the blanket under us. But for the moment, its all giggles, smiles, and raspberries on bellies.

life gets in the way

Having trouble finding the time to get something posted lately. Here are a few cute shots in the meantime.

Girls afternoon out

Laura and I went to the salon on Sunday. Doesn't that sound fancy? It was actually just Fantastic Sams, but it was fun. We both had our hair cut. I think its funny that they cost the same amount of $$, but hers took about 6 minutes, while mine was more like 30. It probably evened out to be fair between the two of us. She was very good and really chatted up the ladies. They thought she was a riot.

Her cut was about 1/4 inch off all the way around to get it out of her eyes and even up her previous home haircuts. Mine was slightly more drastic, but not too crazy. But now I can put "product" in it and "scrunch" it up and get somewhat curly hair. "I'm not even kidding you." (that's what the girl kept telling me.) That's what 2 kids will do to a previously straight haired mom.

Would love share pictures, but I failed to take any, even though my camera was in my pocket. But if I get my hair down out of my normal pony tail one of these days, I'll take a picture of my "curly" hair.

The Many Faces of Laura

(Photo by ? with Laura's camera)

(Photo by ? with Laura's camera)

(Photo by Linda)

Pinkalicious...or not

(photo by Grandma C)

Laura attended a Pinkalicious 4 year old birthday party today.

Oh my.

I was so out of my element that I had to leave.

That's not really why I left. I left because after about an hour, she loudly proclaimed "Mom, would you leave?" sigh. already. And I wasn't embarressing her in any way. I was very quietly standing to the side talking to the other mom who stayed. In fact, Laura came downstairs from playing with her friends to tell me this. I had told her earlier that I might leave if she felt comfortable and was having fun (and if I felt comfortable with the supervision). I guess she decided she was comfortable! So I got to enjoy some of the party, see her being a crazy little squealing girl in someone else's house, watch her play "Pin the Cherry on the Cupcake" and then I dashed off to parts unknown.

Parts unknown ended up being the yarn store, the woodworking store, and Sonic. I bought yarn, cord to fix the bottom of a chair, and a go cart frame. Yes, a go cart. It was on mega sale and looked too much fun to pass up. It will work great the way it is, or you can build the box around it. It has pedals, a brake and a steering wheel, of course. Pictures in the spring, if I can wait that long!

Joe Cool

"Hey baby, how you doin?"

The end of an era

Another pause in my Christmas rememberings to record something for posterity. Tonight is the first night Adam is going to sleep without nursing. So far it is going about the same as it has the last week or so. That is...not fantastic. I started running low on milk about a week ago and he hasn't been getting enough to fall into a floppy, jelly-like state of sleep before being laid down, like he has since birth. It has just been so easy to lay him down for the last 13 months this way. But I've paid the price because that means I have been here for bed every single night for the last 13 months or if I wasn't here, he was still up waiting for me when I got back. Not to mention that he wakes up in the middle of night frequently because he has no idea how to go back to sleep on his own. But since my supply has been waning, he's been so disappointed and frustrated after nursing that he is very worked up when I lay him down anyway. I just decided to draw the line and call it quits. Its very bittersweet. We aren't planning any more kids and nursing has obviously been a big part of my life since I nursed both of ours for over a year. But its good too. It is obvious that he is able to understand so much of what we tell him and I know he is able to learn to go to sleep by himself. And it will be very nice to get some freedom for myself and for Jim. Most importantly for the whole family, he will ideally start sleeping through the night now. This is when Laura started sleeping through the night, and I'm sure you don't want your sister showing you up, do you Adam? kidding. not going to contribute to sibling rivalry. Actually, he has fallen asleep since I started typing this, so maybe we are making small improvements. I look forward to coming out of this year-long fog of exhaustion!

On to the next challenge - he has learned to climb! nothing is safe!

Some pictures of Adam and I:

Poisson Rouge

No posts today because my sister sent me this website:

http://www.poissonrouge.com/

Those crazy French. I played with this for at least an hour after Laura went to bed.

Bowling

That's right. We went bowling with Grandpa Phil. I know its hard to believe, but its true! And it was fun.

What a punk

We won't discuss anyone's score, but we did all have fun.

I'll leave you with a parting action shot: