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Archive for the ‘the boy’


Memories to Cherish, edition one

Everyday things I want to remember…

~The way Bella smiles at me first thing in the morning. She’s always so happy just to be alive.

~The sometimes annoying middle of the night cuddle sessions when Primo’s teeth hurt. No matter how hard it is to get up, it’s wonderful to have that time to just snuggle. It’s the only time he really stays still for more than a few seconds at a time. I want to remember the way he holds my arm to make sure I don’t sneak out, the way he combs through my hair with his little fingers just like he’s stroking his stuffed animals and the way he grabs my face with his warm little hands and says “Mommy, sing.”

~The look of sheer joy Bella gets on her face when she’s bouncing in her bouncy chair. Man, can she move!

~The way that Primo, every time he sees a phone, demands to “Phone Gapa Jack!” or “Phone Gama Betty!”

~The sound of Bella blowing her first bubbles and covering herself in drool.

~The excitement of throwing something in the garbage for Primo. “Primo fwow a gawbage!”

~The sound of Primo’s sweet voice talking to me all day. Especially “‘I luhyousomuch, Mommy.”

~The way Bella looks at her big brother with such awe. He can make her smile just by looking at her.

~The way he makes silly noises and faces at her just to make her happy, and then declares “Bella LIKES it!”

~The way Primo yells at the Big Guy down the basement…”Hellooooo! Daddyyyyyy! Naaaame!”

~The spontaneous hugs and kisses we all get, just because, and the way he says “Hugga Daddy.”

As I sit and type this I’m sad about the things I’ve already forgotten. This whole parenting-circle-of-life stuff isn’t easy on the emotions, is it?

~The way Primo dances with abandon to any music he hears, whether on the stereo, over the speakers at a store or from an annoying toy.

~The way he says “sake-a-bootie” when he feels like dancing when there’s no music on.

~The feel of the nape of Bella’s neck on my lips when I kiss it. So soft, with a little roll of chub. Just above it, there’s a rough patch where her hair is finally growing in. There isn’t enough time to kiss her!

~The way Primo asks for a “hunded kisses” and then we count to 100 by tens as I smooch all over his face.

~The way Bella’s gorgeous brown eyes light up from the inside each time she smiles her gorgeous big toothless grin.

~The way Primo sings “Ode McDonad had a fawm, E-I-E-I-Oooooo. On dat fawm he had a pig/daddy/blind/ceiling (or whatever pops into his head), E-I-E-I-Oooooo.”

~The way Bella looks me in the eye while she’s nursing. Sometimes she smiles and I can see her little tongue still working away to draw her milk out. Making milk is my superpower.

~The way she kneads my shirt, wrings her hands, and pulls my hair while she nurses.

~The way Primo runs out of his bedroom every evening after bath time to show the parent who didn’t bathe him his pajamas. He runs out with such excitement! He rubs his hands on his shirt and says “Hockey shirt!” and his pants and says “Hockey pants!” “Show Mommy!” and then bounces away for one last play before bed.

~The soft and chunky feel of Bella’s cheeks as I squish my lips and nose into them and the way she leans into me with a grin so I’ll keep going.

~The way Primo demands “Have it!” or “Primo wants it” when he wants something. Then, when I just look at him, he changes it to “Have it peez, Mommy.”

~The way Primo gets so excited whenever we’re going anywhere. It’s all routine stuff and we go out pretty much every day, but he’s excited even to go to Safeway (”see the coffee guy!), Caw-Co (Costco) or “War-mit” (Wal-Mart). He especially loves it when we’re going to a friend’s house or to meet friends to shop, and talks about his friend(s) all the way there.

~The way it feels to be a stay at home mom to two little kids who are just 20 months apart. Many people, including us, thought it was a little too close but it couldn’t have been better. There has been no jealousy, very few problems and more love that we could ever have hoped for. We are infinitely blessed.

What do you want to remember?

Can you tell by looking at me?

I was at the mall a few days ago - just me and the kids - and was feeding Primo some organic cookies and milk while we sang songs. I was pointing out things like signs that try to get kids to spend more money, licensed character items that are fun but give money to the wrong people, things that are recyclable, things that could potentially have lead, BPA or other toxins in them and other things that we talk about in our family on a regular basis.

Yes, he’s only two, but it’s normal conversation for him.

I didn’t notice the petite lady following us through the stores until she spoke.

She said,

“I’ve been walking behind you for several minutes now and I hope you don’t mind my commenting on your parenting. I can tell from watching you that you are a very loving and conscientious mother. Your son is so smart and your children are lucky to have such a great role model. I bet you didn’t circumcise him either. Did you?”

I smiled, giggled a little, said “Thank you very much, and no, we didn’t.”

I was a little flattered and a little weirded out.

I’m pretty sure that’s the only time a stranger has commented on or asked about my kid’s penis.

What’s the weirdest thing a stranger has ever talked to you about?

While we’re on the subject, I’ve re-opened comments on this post, just for shits n’ giggles.

My favourite part of today.

our famActually, there were many. He sat and snuggled me more today than he has in a month. He reserves most of his snuggles for his beloved Daddy. I even got snuggle time with both kids at once several times today, and a couple of family snuggle times, too! (During one of which I was inspired, as you can see, to take a crappy family picture with the point-and-shoot turned back on us.) lIt was a great day for all of us!

We spent the morning with a friend and hit the chiropractor, Beaners for a haircut (forgot my camera…aargh…but that might be good because he sat in a pink car for his haircut!) and Costco (where I go broke weekly). We came home for lunch and a quick play in the yard before nap time. (Yes, he’s napping again! And sleeping at night! Knock on wood…).

(I really love parentheses. And apparently they must be italicized. Who knew?)

At nap, we do a mini-version of the nighttime singing routine I wrote about here where I just sing the ABC’s, one other song of his choice and do our regular “I love you SOOOOOOO (big squeeze) much” routine which, like everything else, he makes me repeat four hundred-ish times.
Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my best boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my favourite boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my kind boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my thoughtful boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my helpful boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my generous boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my intelligent boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my amazing boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my awesome boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my cool boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my great-big-brother boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my athletic boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my smart boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my handsome boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my wonderful boy.

Primo: More Iluhyousomuch.

Me: I love you SOOOOOOO much, my Primo.

Primo: Iluhyousomuch, my Mommy. (Big Squeeze)

God, I love being a mom.

Two

Letter coming soon. I promise. Until then, a few images from the party.


2nd birthday party
The only moment when he wasn’t ecstatically happy.
Not a huge fan of birthday hats, apparently.
Of course, I took a picture before I helped him take it off.

2nd birthday party
The cake, lovingly made by my friend and totally not by me.

2nd birthday party
The reason we didn’t barbecue as planned.

How the heck did my kid turn two? Why didn’t you warn me that this was going to happen?

“Pee Foor”

don't pee on the floorPrimo, thank the good bejeebus, has slept through the night in his big bed 3 of the last 4 nights. Also 3 of the last 25, but the former sounds better, no? He’s also been pretty good at either napping or playing in his room for a week or so.

Today? Not so much.

He was calling me from the door (on the inside of which we have a child safety doorknob cover thingy so he can’t get out. Is that bad? He can open the back patio door and escape and we don’t know how to lock that one…) so I went in assuming he’d taken the requisite nap time crap.

Nope.

He was buck naked from the waist down, carrying his diaper and walked me over to the corner. He pointed to a huge wet spot and said “Pee foor. Cean it.”

Do they make diapers that stay on? Anyone tried duct tape?

How The Hell…

How the hell do you get a kid who’s teething molars to open his mouth at toothbrushing time?

How the hell do you get a toddler to lay in a big bed instead of playing all night and/or freaking out?

How the hell do you get a toddler to stop freaking out when he wakes up alone, causing your poor sleep-deprived husband to have to sleep with him from 1:30 am on every night just to get some shut-eye?

How the hell do you make supper when your toddler gives up napping and you have a baby to nurse or bounce all afternoon?

How the hell do you get out of the house with everyone dressed and fed in time for work with two or more kids?

How the hell do you get back into real clothes when the workout clothes are getting old and the maternity clothes look stupid?

How the hell do you not eat the chocolate chips out of your freezer?

How the hell do you get a kid to take a bottle?

How the hell do you get your dog to stop barking at everything that moves in the park beside your house?

How the hell do you get a big bad dog to stop peeing on your floor because he’s too busy barking to pee outside?

How the hell do kids know when it’s nap time and take that as the time to take a huge crap in your room and then cry at the door?

Parenthood. Gotta love it!

Hoppy Birthday

For the first and only time ever in my lifetime, my birthday was on Easter Monday this year. I’m 32. That’s pretty old. Good thing I have kids to keep me young!

I plan to spend my birthday money and gift cards on a Cuisinart panini press/griddle thingy. Paninis are my new addiction, and I’ve been making them on a cookies sheet sandwiched with another cookie sheet in the oven. I also have enough for some spa services, which I’m pumped about, and the BG is getting me my choice of a couple of services as well. I’m thinking facial with microdermabrasion, a pedicure and a massage. Any suggestions? I’ll spend my leftover money on the kids, of course. We really need to get them a good climber this year for the yard because what we have is way too small. The ones that will last us more than two years are between $500 and $1000 so we’ve got some saving to do.


We spent 5 days at my parents’ house and visited with tons of family and friends. Primo and my niece were old enough to enjoy the festivities for the first time and everyone had a blast. We feel better than we have in ages because my mom slept with Primo every night so we got to stay in bed and sleep in every day!

Here’s a mini-summary of our weekend, in pictures…


On Good Friday, my nieces came over and we all coloured eggs. It was Primo and his same age cousin’s first time and was rather hilarious! Especially when Primo bit into a hardboiled egg through the shell!


I spent some time relaxing and playing on the computer. (I killed another laptop. Apparently mine are sorely over used.) Primo sat beside me and played on the most annoying laptop in the world, and showed us all that he knows all of his numbers from 0-10 and all of the shapes except rectangle!


Bella sported her very first Easter dress and the cutest ruffly butt you ever did see. Primo had a great outfit too, but refused to sit for a picture!


I couldn’t help but take more pictures. In this one, she had just woken up from a nap and was stretching when she spotted me taking her picture and flashed a grin.


On Sunday afternoon, my brother brought his girls over to my parents’ house and we went to the park for an Egg Roll. The kids rolled raw eggs down the hill and tried not to break them. They had a blast!


After our Easter treasure hunt, we headed out to the back yard and played for the afternoon. Primo loved Trac Ball, but couldn’t quite figure out which ball to use. The dogs’ soccer ball actually worked quite well!


One of the treasure hunt prizes was sidewalk chalk, and it was a huge hit with all the kids. The girls drew on the sidewalk. Primo drew on the house, the fence, his cousin’s back, the bikes…

We got home Monday evening and spent the rest of my birthday visiting with a friend who came from out of town to meet Bella and bring her the cutest outfit of all time, putting kids to bed (which still takes many hours) and watching tv snuggled up on the couch.


Tuesday morning, my friend and former teaching partner whom I adore came over and brought me a belated birthday latte in a new cup along with some gorgeous flowers in a cool jug and some wheat-free baking stuff. Thoughtful people are few and far between, and my special friend is one in a million!


Of course, pretty flowers and a pretty girl must pose together.

Hope you all had a great long weekend!

Child Protection? Are you watching?

Primo in kennel

Primo in kennel

Primo in kennel

Primo in kennel

He gave himself a time out for barking.

Elusive sleep

Don’t worry - I’m going to tell you what happened at the smoothie store soon. But not right now.

_______________________________________________


Primo’s been in his big boy bed for over a week now and I’m not going to lie to you. It sucks. Big time. Tonight’s the ninth night and it still sucks. He hasn’t had one nap since he’s been out of his crib, and he goes to sleep about 9 - 9:30 pm and is up at 6:30 am.

This from the kid who slept 12-13 hours and still had a 1-2 hour nap.

He’s exhausted and cranky. He has huge black bags under his eyes. None of us are getting enough sleep, and the BG and I hardly see each other. We’re like zombies passing in the night.

He has gone from needing one of us to lie with him for an hour or two to get to sleep at night to crying himself into hysterics and then passing out with one of us just sitting beside his bed. It’s a step, I guess.

Nap time consists of him being barricaded in his room with a baby gate (he’s learned to open doorknobs in the last week as well). He whines a little and plays a little and usually takes a crap.

Last night, he was able to put himself to sleep without one of us being in his room. He hadn’t been hysterical at all so we didn’t go to him. When it had been completely quiet for a little while we went up to peek and this is what we found:

half on bed

Tonight? Hysterical and passed out with the BG sitting beside him on the floor.

Open Letters

Dear Primo,

Go the heck to sleep, okay? You have a very expensive and lovely brand new double mattress all to yourself. I wish it had bars, but sadly it doesn’t. Just imagine they’re there and go to sleep, would you? Please, for the love of all that is sane. You’re cranky and your mommy needs a break.

Love, Mommy
xoxo


Dear Bella,

Thank you so much for being such an easy baby while we deal with your brother’s teething and sleeping issues. You make me want a hundred babies. I keep reminding myself that your brother made me feel that way too, until the teeth. I hope you don’t feel ignored because he takes so much attention.

Love, Mommy
xoxo


To the bitch working at the smoothie store in the mall,

You are a big fat hairy bitch and I’m so glad I made you give me my money back and wasted your chicken and your smoothie. You can suck my butt. I hope your smug attitude was worth the business you’re going to lose when I tell all of my friends and colleagues about your poor customer service.

From, The Customer Who is Truly Always Right


To my big white puppy,

QUIT peeing in the house already. If you’d pee when you go outside instead of barking at every blade of grass that moves in the park necessitating the bringing in of yourself, you wouldn’t still have to go when you get in. Moron.

Love, Your two legged mama who loves you but hates cleaning up pee


To my sweet husband,

Thanks for spending your lunch break today trying to get Primo to nap. You’re in there right now and, whether it works or not, I appreciate even this small break and your effort. You’re a great daddy!

I love you much!
Your tired wife


There’s more, but I need to use the rest of this break to make a reward calendar for staying in bed without screaming.

The Good Boy Bed*

A few weeks ago, we bought Primo a double mattress for his room. We got a high quality one (and an amazing cover for it) because we didn’t want to have to buy him another one. This should last him until he can buy his own. We opted to just put a mattress on the floor for now, and then buy him a box spring when he’s bigger and less likely to fall, and then a frame and head/footboard when he’s much older.

We made a big stink about it, got him nice new bedding and moved the lazyboy out of his room immediately so that when he woke in the night with the damn teeth the BG would just lie in bed with him to get him used to it. It was mostly a playground and a place to lie and hit his dad in the head with his man, but we hoped it would at the very least make the bed not be a scary place. He loved it, and named it his “Good Boy Bed.” I think he misheard us when we said “Big Boy Bed” and the name stuck.

We weren’t in a hurry to get him in a bed - he’s not even two and Bella sleeps in our room so won’t need the crib for several more months - but on Friday morning he somersaulted out of it and landed on his back and head. He landed on the bed, thank God, but that was a sign that it was time.

Have I mentioned that this kid has only had a handful of naps since Christmas? A year and a half of naps is all I get? What did I do to piss off the planets? Anyway, he’s not napping.

So I didn’t have nap time to use as a trial for the bed but the Gods were smiling on us Friday evening. We laid him in bed, sung his songs, said his prayers, did the whole routine and he said “Bye Bye!” We walked out and he went right to sleep. Awesome, right?

Midnight rolled around and he woke up screaming like a banshee. It was likely the damn teeth (I should trademark that) that woke him up but he was completely freaked out (about where he was?) and woke up the same way several times that night each time the BG finally crawled back in to our bed. So, no sleep for anyone! Party time!

The next two nights he didn’t go to sleep so easily - the BG has to lie with him for hours and if he’s left alone in there he knocks on the door and says “Hello!” “Out there” No nap!” ad nauseum and then starts crying madly (not scared - mad) if we don’t go in there immediately. If we lie with him until he’s passing out but not completely out, he notices that we leave and does the same thing.

So? Tips? Lie with him every night until he’s asleep and risk always having to do it? (My preference, but I have to nurse so it’s not going to be me.) Just go in and lay him down over and over again? Keep in mind, we have never and would never let him cry, so that’s not an option. Other than that, what’s worked for you?

Test

Just testing a new post.

Upgrades pretty much done. Thanks for the emails (and comment) about the dark background colour - I will try to lighten it but I don’t have time now. Also working on the header thing so I can have a custom one each month-ish again.

The only thing I can’t fix yet is under the post where it says “posted on on” instead of the date - have to find it in Chelle’s interwebbish code and change it but I’m thinking that might require actual code and therefore help. Chelle’s sleeping right now, as I should be, so I can’t bother her.

G’night!

OH CRAP - I forgot to tell you…

Primo’s in his big boy bed tonight!!

And the winner is…

The kid-naming contest has come to a close.

Please allow me to introduce you to:

primo
Primo


PRIMO
–noun
1. the part of a piano duet played on the upper half of the keyboard.
2. the first or leading part in an ensemble.

–adjective
3. Slang.
a. first-class: dinner at a primo restaurant.
b. highly valuable or most essential: the primo player on the team.


and his sister

bella
Bella


BELLA
-adjective
1. beautiful.
2. delightful to the senses

Perfect, don’t you think?

Both names were suggested by the amazing JJ and, as she said in her comment, she won hands down. Email me, JJ, with your choice of prize and your mailing address and I’ll send those off. FYI, I’ll adjust the (sur)prize if you choose that one and replace the “baby” stuff I had in there since Fa probably doesn’t need a onesie. ;-)

Thanks so much to everyone who entered!

Another cool thing about Primo and Bella (the names, not the kids) is that they start with P&B. So, if we have that third child that we’re considering, s/he will need an e-name that begins with J. Because then? We’d have PB&J, and we’re just that dorky.

Names & Teeth & Nice Folks in Restaurants

Comments are now closed on the kiddie naming contest. The Big Guy and I will deliberate and get back to you. Thanks to all who entered!


My poor little nameless boy has gone from four months of cutting eye teeth directly into the two year molar. I’ve seriously never met a kid who’s teeth hurt so much. He’s up for hours every night in pain and has literally devoured his headboard. It got so bad he was spitting wood chunks onto the floor so I covered it with many layers of duct tape. So he spent a week spitting duct tape onto the floor and is now down to the wood again. Even the heaviest of pediatric OTC drugs don’t work for him. The homeopathic ones don’t touch it. I sure hope his are through before the little girl starts teething!

I have got to take a picture of that headboard. It’s ridiculous.


We took our weekly cruise around Costco today with friends & their kids. Then we were stupid or delusional enough to think that taking three toddlers and three babies with only three moms to a restaurant for lunch was a good idea. Duh. It was actually fun, but the boy’s mouth was so sore and he was so overtired that he was a bit of a crankpot by the end. The girl slept all morning while my boobs were bursting at the seams and then, as Murphy’s Law states she would, she woke up hungry just as the boy’s food arrived. Thank God I had friends there who could help him while I fed her. It was a gong show, but a fun gong show with friends in the same situation so it’s all good.

There was a couple in their mid-fifties or so at a table not far away with a girl in her late teens or early twenties. I saw them looking at us often and didn’t have time to try to read the expressions on their faces, what with the aforementioned gong show happening all around me. Nor did I care if they didn’t like me nursing my baby at the table (quite possible flashing a boob while I tried to stab pancakes with the boy’s fork, but probably not). When they were about to leave the restaurant, the mother came over to our table and asked if she could speak with us. We, of course, said yes. She told us that we all looked like wonderful young mothers and that when she saw my daughter latch on to my breast so readily it brought back great memories for her. She said it was so nice to see us all out together and she was really glad we were doing it because it goes so quickly and we must enjoy it. She was there taking her youngest daughter to lunch. She’s currently in college and was once the tiny baby nursing in a restaurant.

I hope some nice lady was as encouraging to her as this woman was to us. The next time you see a young mother nursing or just mothering well in public, please compliment her. It feels awesome.

Dancin’ Fool

He was actually dancing to “Old MacDonald” and singing “E I E I O pig…” the whole time, but I had to put a song over my stupid voice talking the whole time. Do I really sound like that?

We dance several hours of the day away. It’s one of his favourite hobbies.

(Edited to add…I just realized that I spelled Boogie wrong! Me! The anal one! That should be “Boogie On Down,” no? Isn’t ‘boogey’ more descriptive of what we pick out of our noses? What? You know you do it too.)

Oh, and…

Name Someone Else's Kids at Much More Than a Mom

Please?