Ree wants me in her room when she goes to bed, but she now tucks herself in every night. Last night I noticed all of her blankets were wadded up on her pillow, so I moved them towards the foot of the bed. She quickly panicked. "Mom, you're de-STROY-ing everything!" I said I was just moving them so she had room to sleep. She tried to patiently explain, "I can't jump on the bed if you move my blankets." I reminded her that she was not supposed to jump on the bed. I got an eye roll and she said, 'I don't do it when GROWN UPS are around." Like, duh.
At least she's honest.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Beet Goes On
Jeff and Ree are out running errands to get ready for the soccer tournament Jeff's team is playing in this weekend. The boys are napping. And having already put in my 40 hours for the week, I am home from work. This is nice.
While things are quiet, I have two goals (well, four if you also count eating and typing). To finally put pictures in the collage frames we got for Christmas (We have the pictures and the frames, and they are in a bag together. Yet somehow the pictures have refused to jump in the frames. This is annoying. I expect more out of my prints.) and to cook. Actually, to cook a lot.
Back in March, I had a realization. We go through a ton of food. In the era before children, and even when Ree was little, I would cook big, healthy meals on the weekends, and we would eat the leftovers during the week. So one weekend in March I cooked three big meals a day, from Friday - Sunday. By Monday night, all that was left were the dirty dishes in the sink. The food was all gone. So in order to avoid another trip to the grocery store, we got creative. One day that week, the kids ate a loaf of bread. Yes, the entire loaf. Of big, fat multi-grain slices. They had toast and grilled cheese sandwiches and French toast for dinner. The next day they ate a box of cereal; a can of refried beans; and all the lunch meat, cheese, fruit in the house. We regularly go through close to 3 gallons of milk a week. The kids each think a cantaloupe is an individual-sized fruit. Some people worry about college costs. We don't. There are so many options, that if our kids are even college bound (and let's face it, right now the boys really like eating boogers and rocks. They aren't exactly screaming Harvard Class of 2030.) they will find a way to go. Scholarships, loans, GI Bill, free tuition depending on where I'm working. It'll be fine. What we worry about is feeding them as teenagers. Holy cow!
So I decided to act. Some people have personal trainers. Others have personal chefs. To deal with our insane need for food, I decided to enlist a personal farmer. Seriously. Well, sorta. We've joined a CSA for this summer. For the uninitiated, which would be us right up until this year, "CSA" stands for Community Supported Agriculture. When you join a CSA, you pay farmers up front for a share of their crops for the year. In return, you get boxes of food throughout the summer. It's nice for farmers because they can focus their efforts on farming rather than on marketing and trying to sell their food throughout the season, and it's nice for consumers because we get (depending on the CSA) chemical-free, locally grown produce at a great price.
Yesterday we got our first of 10 boxes of produce from Jones Family Farm. I had looked at the pictures of all the yummy boxes from last season, but I hadn't really thought it through. We live in North Carolina, and we had a cold winter, and it's only May. Yesterday we got winter veggies. Lots of winter veggies. I have two huge bags of salad mix, some greens (I think they're turnip greens), beets, and A LOT of turnips. Like a few pounds of them. I have no idea what you do with a turnip. Add them to stews, I think. So I will be learning. Quickly. This is kinda exciting. I'll keep everyone posted on the results. (Because I know you are fascinated! This is a train wreck just waiting to happen!) I get to be my own little Iron Chef. If the boys don't wake up first.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
My Helper
I am tired of being tired and out of shape, so since the boys started actually sleeping at night last week, I decided that this week I would get up 30 minutes earlier this week so I could at least get in mini workouts before work. I'm sure you can guess what that means - the boys have NOT been sleeping this week, but that hasn't deterred me from working out.
Amazingly, I got through most of my workout on Monday and all of my workout on Tuesday without little helpers. Not so much today. The boys slept better last night, but that meant Michael was up at 5:15 checking on me. I tried tucking him back in, but by 5:45, he was up for the day.
I wasn't going to let that deter me. I dragged his high chair to the living room so he could watch me, and gave him some toast and milk. He liked that for a few minutes. But he really liked the DVD I was doing. He kept shouting "Kick! Kick!" and kicking his tray. It wasn't long before he exclaimed "Done!" and wanted down to join in the fun.
I can't say I got in much of a workout this morning, but Michael and I did have fun. He thought it was the best dance party ever. He actually did a remarkable job of imitating what was happening on the TV, especially the big arm movements.
When the workout ended, he and I sat on the floor, and I read him a book before rushing off to get ready for work. As I was getting ready for work, he got all moany. By that time, he had woken up Jeff (going to the side of the bed and asking, "Dad? Dad? Dad?" combined with the moaning will do it), and Jeff asked him if he wanted to go back to bed. He said, "Yeah." So I went to tuck him back in bed. We stopped at the refrigerator on the way so he could have a sip of cold water. That's when he spied the leftovers from last night's dinner and started frantically pointing at them.
I made a Mexican casserole last night, and Michael was not going to sleep without first filling his belly with it. So he had black beans, tomatoes, onions, corn, and zucchini for breakfast. With a little dry cereal on the side. Unconventional, but I really can't complain. (And he's not alone. One day last week Leon spied leftover shrimp gumbo in the fridge and he made it clear that NOTHING was going to happen until he ate it. He would eat no other foods, he would participate in no other activities. He wanted shrimp gumbo RIGHT THEN.)
Eventually, I made it out the door to work. Later Jeff told me that shortly after I left, Michael went and sat down in front of his bedroom door, and repeated, "Done!" over and over until Jeff picked him and tucked him in bed. I guess Michael had completed his mission. He had entertained Mom and kept her company all morning, so now he could relax and get some sleep. Stinkpot.
Amazingly, I got through most of my workout on Monday and all of my workout on Tuesday without little helpers. Not so much today. The boys slept better last night, but that meant Michael was up at 5:15 checking on me. I tried tucking him back in, but by 5:45, he was up for the day.
I wasn't going to let that deter me. I dragged his high chair to the living room so he could watch me, and gave him some toast and milk. He liked that for a few minutes. But he really liked the DVD I was doing. He kept shouting "Kick! Kick!" and kicking his tray. It wasn't long before he exclaimed "Done!" and wanted down to join in the fun.
I can't say I got in much of a workout this morning, but Michael and I did have fun. He thought it was the best dance party ever. He actually did a remarkable job of imitating what was happening on the TV, especially the big arm movements.
When the workout ended, he and I sat on the floor, and I read him a book before rushing off to get ready for work. As I was getting ready for work, he got all moany. By that time, he had woken up Jeff (going to the side of the bed and asking, "Dad? Dad? Dad?" combined with the moaning will do it), and Jeff asked him if he wanted to go back to bed. He said, "Yeah." So I went to tuck him back in bed. We stopped at the refrigerator on the way so he could have a sip of cold water. That's when he spied the leftovers from last night's dinner and started frantically pointing at them.
I made a Mexican casserole last night, and Michael was not going to sleep without first filling his belly with it. So he had black beans, tomatoes, onions, corn, and zucchini for breakfast. With a little dry cereal on the side. Unconventional, but I really can't complain. (And he's not alone. One day last week Leon spied leftover shrimp gumbo in the fridge and he made it clear that NOTHING was going to happen until he ate it. He would eat no other foods, he would participate in no other activities. He wanted shrimp gumbo RIGHT THEN.)
Eventually, I made it out the door to work. Later Jeff told me that shortly after I left, Michael went and sat down in front of his bedroom door, and repeated, "Done!" over and over until Jeff picked him and tucked him in bed. I guess Michael had completed his mission. He had entertained Mom and kept her company all morning, so now he could relax and get some sleep. Stinkpot.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Michael, Man of Words
There is much to be said for being 17 months old. Life is just so dang simple. Each day when I get home from work, Michael is the first to greet me. He and the dogs are often waiting at the door, noses pressed against the glass, hoping to fall on to the porch when I open the door. I nudge the dogs out of the way, get everyone back in the house, pick up Michael, and give him a hug and a kiss. And then we have this conversation. Every day.
Me: How was your day?
Michael: Good
Me: Did you have fun?
Michael: Yeah
Then he grins and buries his head in my shoulder.
We then move on to discuss other things like what toys he played with (vroom!), what Elmo was talking about today (vroom!), and the oil spill in the gulf (vroom!). But it amazes me how sincerely happy he always is when I ask about his day, and how he expects to have our initial conversation every day. Without it, I think he feels a bit cheated.
Me: How was your day?
Michael: Good
Me: Did you have fun?
Michael: Yeah
Then he grins and buries his head in my shoulder.
We then move on to discuss other things like what toys he played with (vroom!), what Elmo was talking about today (vroom!), and the oil spill in the gulf (vroom!). But it amazes me how sincerely happy he always is when I ask about his day, and how he expects to have our initial conversation every day. Without it, I think he feels a bit cheated.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
SLEEP!
Of course now I have hope that this could happen again...
Friday, May 7, 2010
A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss
We got an early start today and never really slowed down. Michael, using his amazing powers of perception, realized I did not have to work today, so he got up at 5:45 so that he could maximize his fun time with Mommy. I tucked him back in, and he was quiet for awhile, but by 6:15 he was howling, and he woke up Leon who had been asleep since 8:15 last night (and they said Leon would never sleep!).
As usual, Michael was grouchy that he did not get alone time with me. In an effort to keep the peace, by 6:37 a.m., the boys were strapped into the stroller (still sporting last night's jammies and diapers, but they weren't complaining and it saved a lot of fussing), and we took off for a long walk around the neighborhood.
They were completely content on the walk, and it was actually a nice way to start the day. Although Friday afternoons are the craziest time to be on the streets in Wilmington, Friday mornings are usually pretty quiet. Apparently no one works on Friday or everyone just calls in after Thursday night's fun.
We came home, ate breakfast, and I did something around the house. For the life of me, I have no idea what it was. I know I did laundry and took care of dishes later. Hmmm. Anyway, Ree and I took off again around 9:30 for a super, crazy adventure. We went and checked out a new preschool for her. The preschool actually insisted she come and play before we could register, and Ree had a lot of fun. (We don't know yet if we'll be accepted or if we'll go there if we are accepted, but we wanted to get in the mandatory play session!) We ended up staying for an hour and a half and Ree got to finger paint, play with the water table outside, listen to stories, build with blocks, and do puzzles. Despite all those activities, tonight when she was going to bed she told me the best part of her day was eating snack at the preschool. (They had multi-grain crackers and apple chunks.) That girl still loves at least some foods.
Following preschool, we had lunch at Panera and then went to the post office, Food Lion, Target, Office Max, the bank, and Harris Teeter. By the time we got home, she and I were both ready for naps. Of course as soon as we pulled in the driveway, the boys woke up from theirs.
Jeff let me sneak away for a little while, and I passed out for about 20 minutes. Ree ended up sleeping for nearly three hours.
The boys were cranky since they got up really early and took short naps, and Jeff and I struggled to keep them entertained. Around 4:45, as I was trying to figure out how to make dinner while keeping them busy, it suddenly hit me that Max had a vet appointment at 4:30. Max was still laying on the living room floor. Crap. Called the vet, who thankfully is located at the entrance to our neighborhood, apologized profusely, and they said they could see him anyway. We've been worried about him, because he spends all his time looking for things to eat, and he just keeps getting thinner. It turns out, there is nothing wrong with him. He is just spending all his time chasing the squirrel brigade and the other creatures that threaten our yard. We just need to feed him more. Alrighty then. We can do that.
We made it through the usual bedtime madness, and then I got busy again. We only have a single car garage, but when we moved in to this house last year, I vowed we would be parking a car in it. A year later, it's never happened. So last Sunday, after tripping over baby gear yet again, I decided to do something about it. Normal people would clean out the garage. I decided to have a yard sale. Tomorrow. Before Jeff's soccer game.
So last night I was up late sorting baby clothes and getting stuff ready. It was about 12:15 by the time I showered and unwound from that fun. Thankfully I had less to do tonight. The plan for tomorrow night - to sit on the couch and do nothing except maybe lift a beer to my mouth.
As usual, Michael was grouchy that he did not get alone time with me. In an effort to keep the peace, by 6:37 a.m., the boys were strapped into the stroller (still sporting last night's jammies and diapers, but they weren't complaining and it saved a lot of fussing), and we took off for a long walk around the neighborhood.
They were completely content on the walk, and it was actually a nice way to start the day. Although Friday afternoons are the craziest time to be on the streets in Wilmington, Friday mornings are usually pretty quiet. Apparently no one works on Friday or everyone just calls in after Thursday night's fun.
We came home, ate breakfast, and I did something around the house. For the life of me, I have no idea what it was. I know I did laundry and took care of dishes later. Hmmm. Anyway, Ree and I took off again around 9:30 for a super, crazy adventure. We went and checked out a new preschool for her. The preschool actually insisted she come and play before we could register, and Ree had a lot of fun. (We don't know yet if we'll be accepted or if we'll go there if we are accepted, but we wanted to get in the mandatory play session!) We ended up staying for an hour and a half and Ree got to finger paint, play with the water table outside, listen to stories, build with blocks, and do puzzles. Despite all those activities, tonight when she was going to bed she told me the best part of her day was eating snack at the preschool. (They had multi-grain crackers and apple chunks.) That girl still loves at least some foods.
Following preschool, we had lunch at Panera and then went to the post office, Food Lion, Target, Office Max, the bank, and Harris Teeter. By the time we got home, she and I were both ready for naps. Of course as soon as we pulled in the driveway, the boys woke up from theirs.
Jeff let me sneak away for a little while, and I passed out for about 20 minutes. Ree ended up sleeping for nearly three hours.
The boys were cranky since they got up really early and took short naps, and Jeff and I struggled to keep them entertained. Around 4:45, as I was trying to figure out how to make dinner while keeping them busy, it suddenly hit me that Max had a vet appointment at 4:30. Max was still laying on the living room floor. Crap. Called the vet, who thankfully is located at the entrance to our neighborhood, apologized profusely, and they said they could see him anyway. We've been worried about him, because he spends all his time looking for things to eat, and he just keeps getting thinner. It turns out, there is nothing wrong with him. He is just spending all his time chasing the squirrel brigade and the other creatures that threaten our yard. We just need to feed him more. Alrighty then. We can do that.
We made it through the usual bedtime madness, and then I got busy again. We only have a single car garage, but when we moved in to this house last year, I vowed we would be parking a car in it. A year later, it's never happened. So last Sunday, after tripping over baby gear yet again, I decided to do something about it. Normal people would clean out the garage. I decided to have a yard sale. Tomorrow. Before Jeff's soccer game.
So last night I was up late sorting baby clothes and getting stuff ready. It was about 12:15 by the time I showered and unwound from that fun. Thankfully I had less to do tonight. The plan for tomorrow night - to sit on the couch and do nothing except maybe lift a beer to my mouth.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Shopping Madness
Ree is such a girlie girl, and as a result, she is really in to shopping. Which is somewhat unfortunate, since I'm not a huge shopper these days. I don't have anything against it, I am just lacking time and money. Thankfully, Ree is easy to please. As long as she can visit Target or Walmart and Harris Teeter each week, she is a happy camper.
Every now and then we try for a bigger adventure. Sometimes, we fail horribly. I learned back in February, that you can do extra things, like take her to Toys R Us, but you better not skip the regular shopping. It would be like, hmmm, I can't really think of an example right now, but it would be bad.
The exception to the mandatory weekly trips is when we have company. Ree may have rules for everything, but she is also good at knowing when to apply them. (I read somewhere that being able to apply different rules to different situations is a sign of a successful person. If success increases with the number of rules and situations, Ree is going to have one amazing life ahead of her!) And Ree knows that when we have company, things are different.
So when Jeff's parents were visiting, Ree insisted we have some time for "just the girls," so one afternoon she and I went shopping at Kohl's with Jeff's mom. When we got there, we headed straight to the toddler department. Ree wanted to ride in the cart, and she was issuing orders. (Perhaps it's time to cut back on the princess movies...) We started looking for shirts, and she caught Jeff's mom looking at a stack of shirts that had a bigger size on top. Ree dutifully informed her, "It has to say '2T.'" (She might just be the only child ever to have the bossiness of a 4-year-old and still wear a 2T.) Once that matter was settled, Ree then proceeded to locate every pink or fuschia outfit in the store.
Once the outfits were selected, I took her to the fitting room to try on the clothes. Although she had watched me try on clothes, she had never actually done it. I was afraid she was going to get upset. With all her rules, she is not good with situations. But, possibly because she is well informed on fitting rooms from reading Baby Blues, she was excited. In fact, you would've thought I had taken her to Disney World. Trying on clothes was the best thing EVER. When she found something she liked, she twirled and spun. I'm pretty sure at one point she even added "Whee! This is fun."
I must remember this, and torture her with this knowledge, when she is 13 and shopping for jeans or a bathing suit. It's my duty as a mother.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
He Speaks!
Until he was five months old, Leon was the happy brother. Michael may have cooed first, but Leon cooed more and louder. Leon was the one who woke us all up with his babble during the night. But then it suddenly stopped. He had a major setback. Instead of trying to communicate with us, he would just lay around and cry. Later, when he could sit, he would sit and flap his arms and cry. We could not distract him by calling his name or by making eye contact. He was just miserable a lot of the time and was basically only non-miserable ("happy" was a stretch) when attached to me. We were worried. I feared he was autistic. We took him to the doctor. There was nothing wrong with him.
His behavior would've been challenging with any child, even an only child, but for a twin with an older sibling, it was nearly impossible. He spent a lot of months crying. All the time. It was frustrating and horrible. And it was our way of life.
Thankfully, over the past couple of months, Leon has started to snap out of it. (Of course, since the boys are yin and yang, this means Michael has been miserable. One of these days they will both be happy at once. Really!) Learning to walk and talk has helped Leon. A few weeks ago, Leon realize that he could communicate what he wants. It was like a light bulb went off in his head. I'm not sure if it started when he realized that bursting out a fake smile and begging, "Pleeeeease?" could get him a whole lot of things in life, if it was when he discovered that hitting the refrigerator and pantry often resulted in food, or if it was some other crazy combination of events, but it was clear he realized he could get what he wants.
And that has motivated him to talk. Leon's vocabulary is expanding like crazy.
He's so different from his siblings. Ree waited to speak until she could basically bust out entire sentences, and even Michael won't say anything out loud until he is sure he can fully enunciate the words. Leon just throws jibberish together any chance he gets. Sometimes, I think he gets it right. We are pretty sure we've caught him singing actual words/syllables to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and the ABC song.
Half the time he startles me when he speaks. I think he is all zoned out in his own little Leon world, and he will jump into a conversation with his own little comment. It's like the toddler equivalent of Silent Bob moments.
The other night I was reading Michael a book on animal sounds, and the last page asks, "What does Clifford say?" Without missing a beat, from across the room where he was throwing toys or causing some other kind of mayhem, Leon said, "Bow wow." A couple of nights ago, I was attempting to dress Leon on his changing table after his bath, and I'm pretty sure he was trying to jump off the changing table to see if he could fly. In an attempt to distract him long enough to wrangle on a diaper and pajamas, I started counting the dogs on a poster over the changing table. He continued squirming, focusing on the goal of crashing into the floor. In my counting, I stopped at eleven, but Leon then chimed in with what sounded eerily like "twelve."
Sometimes he does say words clearly though. Last week we were having fried fish for dinner. This was the good stuff, and Leon wanted to load up on it, so he blurted out, "More fish, please." Granted, it sounded like "Muh fiSH peeeez," but we knew what he meant. (And, yes, we gave him more fish since he had asked so nicely.) On Saturday, he pointed to our brown dog and said, "Max!" Both Max and Leon then grinned. So Leon said it again. At bedtime, I usually tuck the boys in one at a time, and they wave goodnight to everyone else in our family. Michael was first to catch on to waving, and is still the only one to have moved on to grown up waving. Michael was also the first to say, "Night night" instead of "Bye bye." But Leon was the first to use names. Out of nowhere, last night when telling his sis goodnight he said, "Bye, Ree." And it was obvious what he was saying, even if the words were slurred together.
It's so nice to have Leon communicating and happy (except for when he doesn't get his way and stages a raging protest). Now if we could just get Leon to use his words for good and not evil...
His behavior would've been challenging with any child, even an only child, but for a twin with an older sibling, it was nearly impossible. He spent a lot of months crying. All the time. It was frustrating and horrible. And it was our way of life.
Thankfully, over the past couple of months, Leon has started to snap out of it. (Of course, since the boys are yin and yang, this means Michael has been miserable. One of these days they will both be happy at once. Really!) Learning to walk and talk has helped Leon. A few weeks ago, Leon realize that he could communicate what he wants. It was like a light bulb went off in his head. I'm not sure if it started when he realized that bursting out a fake smile and begging, "Pleeeeease?" could get him a whole lot of things in life, if it was when he discovered that hitting the refrigerator and pantry often resulted in food, or if it was some other crazy combination of events, but it was clear he realized he could get what he wants.
And that has motivated him to talk. Leon's vocabulary is expanding like crazy.
He's so different from his siblings. Ree waited to speak until she could basically bust out entire sentences, and even Michael won't say anything out loud until he is sure he can fully enunciate the words. Leon just throws jibberish together any chance he gets. Sometimes, I think he gets it right. We are pretty sure we've caught him singing actual words/syllables to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and the ABC song.
Half the time he startles me when he speaks. I think he is all zoned out in his own little Leon world, and he will jump into a conversation with his own little comment. It's like the toddler equivalent of Silent Bob moments.
The other night I was reading Michael a book on animal sounds, and the last page asks, "What does Clifford say?" Without missing a beat, from across the room where he was throwing toys or causing some other kind of mayhem, Leon said, "Bow wow." A couple of nights ago, I was attempting to dress Leon on his changing table after his bath, and I'm pretty sure he was trying to jump off the changing table to see if he could fly. In an attempt to distract him long enough to wrangle on a diaper and pajamas, I started counting the dogs on a poster over the changing table. He continued squirming, focusing on the goal of crashing into the floor. In my counting, I stopped at eleven, but Leon then chimed in with what sounded eerily like "twelve."
Sometimes he does say words clearly though. Last week we were having fried fish for dinner. This was the good stuff, and Leon wanted to load up on it, so he blurted out, "More fish, please." Granted, it sounded like "Muh fiSH peeeez," but we knew what he meant. (And, yes, we gave him more fish since he had asked so nicely.) On Saturday, he pointed to our brown dog and said, "Max!" Both Max and Leon then grinned. So Leon said it again. At bedtime, I usually tuck the boys in one at a time, and they wave goodnight to everyone else in our family. Michael was first to catch on to waving, and is still the only one to have moved on to grown up waving. Michael was also the first to say, "Night night" instead of "Bye bye." But Leon was the first to use names. Out of nowhere, last night when telling his sis goodnight he said, "Bye, Ree." And it was obvious what he was saying, even if the words were slurred together.
It's so nice to have Leon communicating and happy (except for when he doesn't get his way and stages a raging protest). Now if we could just get Leon to use his words for good and not evil...
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