Jeff texted me one day last week to tell me the kids were playing house again. I had never witnessed this, but he told me it was something they do regularly. He was laughing because Michael had begged to be the baby again. Michael always wanted to be the baby. Over the weekend I learned a bit more about how they play. Ree is the mom, and she's usually off at work unless it's "Saturday" and she gets to stay at home. Leon is always the dad, and Michael, of course, is always the baby. (The actual baby is apparently not included in this, which may be the safest option anyway.)
Ree brought up the topic of playing at house at dinner last night. I asked Michael if he ever wanted to be the dad and he said no, he wanted to the baby. I asked Leon if he ever wanted to be the baby and he said no, he was the dad. So I asked Leon what dads do, and he instantly replied, "Cook!" Then I asked Michael what babies do, and he quickly replied, "Eat!" No wonder they are so happy with their roles.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sticker Shock
When Leon and Michael were born, we suddenly had three kids under the age of three. As we were getting ready for Natalia's arrival, I found myself thinking, "four under the age of five isn't nearly as bad as three under three." And I was believing this, really I was, until it occurred to me that we would still have three kids under the age of three and we would have a big sister too.
Aside from the daily insanity that just goes with combination of children, one of the biggest challenges is the cost of diapers. I know we spend a lot of money, but I don't think about it on a daily basis. The money just goes out the door, and with Ree we certainly discovered that potty training does not make life cheaper. As soon as we got her potty trained, she started preschool, and tuition is a whole lot more expensive than a couple of boxes of diapers a month.
While I was home on maternity leave with Natalia, I had time to do silly things like look at stores' weekly ads and read their coupon policies. As a result, I got better at budgeting our diaper money. I thought I was doing great when I headed to Target yesterday. I bought diapers when I could get a gift card for buying two boxes at a time, and I used both manufacturer's coupons and Target coupons for each box. (You don't know how excited I was to realize I could use two coupons for everything I buy there! I am such a coupon dork.) But it was later that afternoon when I was contemplating the receipt that it hit me. I may have gotten a "good deal", but I just shelled out $70 on diapers, and that's not even quite enough to last us a month. We will need at least one more $20 case. Yikes. I can think of a lot of ways I would like to spend seventy bucks, even if I spend it on the kids, and I don't want to spend it cleaning their poo. There has to be a better way.
So I set a goal of breaking our disposable diaper habit by June 30th. I'll let you know how this goes!
Aside from the daily insanity that just goes with combination of children, one of the biggest challenges is the cost of diapers. I know we spend a lot of money, but I don't think about it on a daily basis. The money just goes out the door, and with Ree we certainly discovered that potty training does not make life cheaper. As soon as we got her potty trained, she started preschool, and tuition is a whole lot more expensive than a couple of boxes of diapers a month.
While I was home on maternity leave with Natalia, I had time to do silly things like look at stores' weekly ads and read their coupon policies. As a result, I got better at budgeting our diaper money. I thought I was doing great when I headed to Target yesterday. I bought diapers when I could get a gift card for buying two boxes at a time, and I used both manufacturer's coupons and Target coupons for each box. (You don't know how excited I was to realize I could use two coupons for everything I buy there! I am such a coupon dork.) But it was later that afternoon when I was contemplating the receipt that it hit me. I may have gotten a "good deal", but I just shelled out $70 on diapers, and that's not even quite enough to last us a month. We will need at least one more $20 case. Yikes. I can think of a lot of ways I would like to spend seventy bucks, even if I spend it on the kids, and I don't want to spend it cleaning their poo. There has to be a better way.
So I set a goal of breaking our disposable diaper habit by June 30th. I'll let you know how this goes!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
I remember when Ree was little, we would sweat out the milestones. The first that I vividly remember was her batting at toys, or rather, her not batting at toys. Around three months (and probably earlier) babies are "supposed" to reach for toys. Ree showed no interest. She wanted us to entertain her, but she took no interest in entertaining herself. Then, the day she turned four months, she reached for a rattle, grabbed it on the first try, and stuck it her mouth. Stinkpot. Her crazy perfectionism continued as she learned to sit, crawl, and walk. Actually, it's still around today.
Then there's Natalia. The forgotten child. With Ree we knew she wasn't doing what she was "supposed" to do because we were actively reading about what to do at each stage. I know I've said before we consider it a good day when we remember to feed AND change Natalia. I do get a short email each week on her development that I scan. It comes from the hospital's photographer, of all places. I got one on Thursday that said, "By now your baby is rolling from front to back and back to front." Uh, whoopsie. She isn't doing either. I mentioned it to Jeff, but with no concern. More like, "Hey, we should probably let the child touch the floor." But the reality is, it's scary putting her down. We "only" had to worry about Ree getting trampled by two dogs. Now those dogs are four years older and much less cautious around babies, plus there are three big siblings. Even if no one is trying to hurt her, that's an awful lot of people who can accidentally fall over on the baby. So while Natalia gets at least a little tummy time most days, she alternates between her bouncy seat, the sling, and being held an awful lot of the time. (And even the bouncy seat can be scary. On two different occasions, I've see Michael try to use it as a catapult, while poor Natalia is in it.)
So Thursday night, as the boys were trotting off to bed, I put Natalia down on a blanket so she could exercise while I tucked them in. As soon as I put her down, she rolled over. It's like she knew.
Then there's Natalia. The forgotten child. With Ree we knew she wasn't doing what she was "supposed" to do because we were actively reading about what to do at each stage. I know I've said before we consider it a good day when we remember to feed AND change Natalia. I do get a short email each week on her development that I scan. It comes from the hospital's photographer, of all places. I got one on Thursday that said, "By now your baby is rolling from front to back and back to front." Uh, whoopsie. She isn't doing either. I mentioned it to Jeff, but with no concern. More like, "Hey, we should probably let the child touch the floor." But the reality is, it's scary putting her down. We "only" had to worry about Ree getting trampled by two dogs. Now those dogs are four years older and much less cautious around babies, plus there are three big siblings. Even if no one is trying to hurt her, that's an awful lot of people who can accidentally fall over on the baby. So while Natalia gets at least a little tummy time most days, she alternates between her bouncy seat, the sling, and being held an awful lot of the time. (And even the bouncy seat can be scary. On two different occasions, I've see Michael try to use it as a catapult, while poor Natalia is in it.)
So Thursday night, as the boys were trotting off to bed, I put Natalia down on a blanket so she could exercise while I tucked them in. As soon as I put her down, she rolled over. It's like she knew.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Big Boy Beds
Two weekends ago, we moved Leon and Michael into their big boy beds. But before we could put the new beds in their room, we had to disassemble their cribs. They "helped," of course.
Jeff had already assembled their new beds, and we put the new beds in the living room while Jeff actually took down the cribs. While Leon started bringing in blankets and stuffed animals and went to work making his bed, Michael, of course, immediately plopped down to watch TV. (And, yes, he is cuddling with a basketball. And he only has a blanket because Leon brought him one.)
As soon as we put the beds in their room, Leon started moving them around. He arranged it so their beds are touching just like their cribs did, and for the first couple of days they both slept in the middle so they were as close together as possible. Although he didn't say anything to me or Jeff, when my mom asked Michael about his new bed, he told her it was "too scary."
Maybe it's just me, but every time I see their itty bitty beds all squished together, I giggle and feel like I have two of Snow White's seven dwarfs living in that room.
Jeff had already assembled their new beds, and we put the new beds in the living room while Jeff actually took down the cribs. While Leon started bringing in blankets and stuffed animals and went to work making his bed, Michael, of course, immediately plopped down to watch TV. (And, yes, he is cuddling with a basketball. And he only has a blanket because Leon brought him one.)
As soon as we put the beds in their room, Leon started moving them around. He arranged it so their beds are touching just like their cribs did, and for the first couple of days they both slept in the middle so they were as close together as possible. Although he didn't say anything to me or Jeff, when my mom asked Michael about his new bed, he told her it was "too scary."
Maybe it's just me, but every time I see their itty bitty beds all squished together, I giggle and feel like I have two of Snow White's seven dwarfs living in that room.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Fit Kids
The other night as the kids were getting ready for bed, Michael and I were in the bathroom. As he putzed around, I stretched my arms over my head. In typical fashion, he immediately started whining, "Mikey exercise TOoooOooOoo! Mikey exercise TOoooOooOoo!" and he hurled his body into a warrior pose in yoga. So I told him we could do some stretches, and we started doing a little yoga, right there in the bathroom. Leon saw us and while he was interested, wanted to do something more his speed. That's when he announced, "Let's do pushups!"
Thursday, May 5, 2011
The Best Medicine
They say kids laugh more than 400 times a day and adults only laugh 15. No wonder so many people are on antidepressants! It also helps that kids find everything hilarious. From dinner the other night:
Michael: Knock-knock.
Me: Who's there?
Michael: Hot dog.
Me: Hot dog, who?
Michael: Get it? Hot? Dog? hahahahahaha
I smiled and tried not to visibly shake my head.
Michael (still laughing at his brilliance): That's funny! hahahahaha
Michael: Knock-knock.
Me: Who's there?
Michael: Hot dog.
Me: Hot dog, who?
Michael: Get it? Hot? Dog? hahahahahaha
I smiled and tried not to visibly shake my head.
Michael (still laughing at his brilliance): That's funny! hahahahaha
Monday, May 2, 2011
April
I returned to work at the beginning of April, and it marked one of the busiest months of my life. Work itself was nuts. My first week back my boss encouraged me to "slowly" get back into the grind, and I kinda fought her on that. I really, really, really didn't want to be back at work, so I wanted to be busy to distract myself. I'm glad I hit the ground running, because it's been crazy, nonstop mayhem. I'll spare you the boring details of an auditor's job, but yeah, I have not been able to be a slacker state employee just back from maternity leave. Not that it was ever the plan, but that would've been nice. Instead I have been working far more than usual, and wasn't even able to use leave to aide at Ree's preschool last Friday. (Thanks to flexible work arrangements, I was able to aide, but I had to make up all the other time.)
Which leads to the next complicating matter - preschool. Each family has to aide in the classroom six days per year, and aiding is an all day ordeal with prior planning since the aiding family provides the snack and brings in an activity to do. We were behind on aiding because I was too dang big to aide in January. I had planned on aiding while on maternity leave, but since I'm nursing and was going to be gone most of the day, I have to take Natalia with me when I aide, and I didn't want to take a newborn to a preschool in February and March during peak cold and flu season. So we are aiding 3 Fridays out of 4 right now. We also spent Saturday at preschool for the annual school carnival. (Like all families, I was supposed to volunteer, but my booth was miraculously absent when I arrived on Saturday morning, and so I got to play with Ree instead.) And in my spare time, I have been asked to serve as president of the very active board at the preschool for next year. So I will be penciling in that madness.
And then there's the home front. Michael has not adjusted well to my return to work. He is back to his moaning and generally feeling like the world is out to get him. It does have humorous moments, though. Like when he mopes around and announces, "I'm saaaad." We shouldn't laugh, but how can we not? Another day he was refusing to do something, and rather than screaming, he sang the ABC song, with "Nope" substituted for every letter. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope..." How can one child be so smart and sound like such a flippin' idiot?
Meanwhile Leon has decided he must potty train. The best we can figure is it is entirely our fault for reading all those books about being a big brother in which the big brother plays with the baby, gets to eat pizza and ice cream, and uses the potty. We think he figures he's played with the baby, he's had pizza and ice cream, and now it's time to use the potty. This would be a good thing, except potty training is time consuming. And we have twin boys. There is the competition and the peer pressure. So every time Leon asks to go potty, it is at least a 15 minute endeavor because first he has to go, and it involves all the piddling around of a two-year-old in the bathroom with his pants off, and then Michael wants a turn to do the same. For all the frustrations, I suppose it has it's entertaining moments too. Every time Leon is successful, he must announce, "Yay! I really did it!" which is a line from a potty training book. And again, Michael showed his smart-yet-not side one day when he looked down and said, "Mom, there's dirt in the potty. Disgusting!" That's when I had to inform him he was the one responsible for the "dirt."
Ree is busy with preschool, and this is a wonderful thing. It gives her a little time to be with other kids her age. It is nice to finally see her playing with her siblings. She and the boys started playing together outside last summer, and over the last month or two, they also play together inside at times. Among other things, they enjoy running around the house like chickens with their heads cut off most nights after dinner. They jump and slide and tackle each other and generally scare the crap out of me. I've found it's safest for me to disappear and walk the dogs at this time whenever possible.
And then there's Natalia. Poor little Natalia, the forgotten child. Most of the time, she is happy to just sit in her bouncy seat and watch the insanity of our house. (With the fourth child, I feel no real guilt that we are not stimulating her or doing things that are developmentally appropriate. We are lucky to remember to feed her and change her diapers. Thank goodness I am nursing. I am in pain if I forget to feed her too long. Nature is smart.) The rest of the time, at least when I am around, she is happy to either be in the sling hanging out with me or sleeping in her swing. At night, she hangs out and nurses while I study. (I am sitting for a certification exam for work in June. It is something I promised to do when I started work 3 1/2 years ago, and as much as I hate it, I really have to get it done.) Her favorite, though, is when she gets to nurse while Jeff and I watch TV. I must release some magically relaxation hormone because she loved TV time when I was pregnant, and now she almost always passes out within 15 or 20 minutes of us turning on the TV. (It is hard not to watch TV every night just to get her to sleep!) We are currently watching Miami Vice, in all of its cheesy glory, on DVD. Last night, I opted to watch an episode with Jeff rather than study. Natalia enjoyed it so much she slept through the night for the first time. She is a bad influence. After that, it is going to be hard to choose studying tonight!
Which leads to the next complicating matter - preschool. Each family has to aide in the classroom six days per year, and aiding is an all day ordeal with prior planning since the aiding family provides the snack and brings in an activity to do. We were behind on aiding because I was too dang big to aide in January. I had planned on aiding while on maternity leave, but since I'm nursing and was going to be gone most of the day, I have to take Natalia with me when I aide, and I didn't want to take a newborn to a preschool in February and March during peak cold and flu season. So we are aiding 3 Fridays out of 4 right now. We also spent Saturday at preschool for the annual school carnival. (Like all families, I was supposed to volunteer, but my booth was miraculously absent when I arrived on Saturday morning, and so I got to play with Ree instead.) And in my spare time, I have been asked to serve as president of the very active board at the preschool for next year. So I will be penciling in that madness.
And then there's the home front. Michael has not adjusted well to my return to work. He is back to his moaning and generally feeling like the world is out to get him. It does have humorous moments, though. Like when he mopes around and announces, "I'm saaaad." We shouldn't laugh, but how can we not? Another day he was refusing to do something, and rather than screaming, he sang the ABC song, with "Nope" substituted for every letter. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope..." How can one child be so smart and sound like such a flippin' idiot?
Meanwhile Leon has decided he must potty train. The best we can figure is it is entirely our fault for reading all those books about being a big brother in which the big brother plays with the baby, gets to eat pizza and ice cream, and uses the potty. We think he figures he's played with the baby, he's had pizza and ice cream, and now it's time to use the potty. This would be a good thing, except potty training is time consuming. And we have twin boys. There is the competition and the peer pressure. So every time Leon asks to go potty, it is at least a 15 minute endeavor because first he has to go, and it involves all the piddling around of a two-year-old in the bathroom with his pants off, and then Michael wants a turn to do the same. For all the frustrations, I suppose it has it's entertaining moments too. Every time Leon is successful, he must announce, "Yay! I really did it!" which is a line from a potty training book. And again, Michael showed his smart-yet-not side one day when he looked down and said, "Mom, there's dirt in the potty. Disgusting!" That's when I had to inform him he was the one responsible for the "dirt."
Ree is busy with preschool, and this is a wonderful thing. It gives her a little time to be with other kids her age. It is nice to finally see her playing with her siblings. She and the boys started playing together outside last summer, and over the last month or two, they also play together inside at times. Among other things, they enjoy running around the house like chickens with their heads cut off most nights after dinner. They jump and slide and tackle each other and generally scare the crap out of me. I've found it's safest for me to disappear and walk the dogs at this time whenever possible.
And then there's Natalia. Poor little Natalia, the forgotten child. Most of the time, she is happy to just sit in her bouncy seat and watch the insanity of our house. (With the fourth child, I feel no real guilt that we are not stimulating her or doing things that are developmentally appropriate. We are lucky to remember to feed her and change her diapers. Thank goodness I am nursing. I am in pain if I forget to feed her too long. Nature is smart.) The rest of the time, at least when I am around, she is happy to either be in the sling hanging out with me or sleeping in her swing. At night, she hangs out and nurses while I study. (I am sitting for a certification exam for work in June. It is something I promised to do when I started work 3 1/2 years ago, and as much as I hate it, I really have to get it done.) Her favorite, though, is when she gets to nurse while Jeff and I watch TV. I must release some magically relaxation hormone because she loved TV time when I was pregnant, and now she almost always passes out within 15 or 20 minutes of us turning on the TV. (It is hard not to watch TV every night just to get her to sleep!) We are currently watching Miami Vice, in all of its cheesy glory, on DVD. Last night, I opted to watch an episode with Jeff rather than study. Natalia enjoyed it so much she slept through the night for the first time. She is a bad influence. After that, it is going to be hard to choose studying tonight!
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