De-cluttering

As we are hoping to move very soon (I know I keep saying that - ARGH - I don't wanna talk about it!), I have been selling baby stuff on Craigslist weekly and making monthly stops at Goodwill to unload the clutter. Yesterday I sold the Graco stroller / carseat combo with the two bases to a 17 year old girl who looked about 7 months pregnant. As I gave her a lesson on folding and unfolding the stroller with one hand in my front yard, what I really wanted to do was give her a big hug and my "what to expect the first year" book. I waited until I was 36 to have my first child, I just can't imagine what her life will be like in a few months. I mean, I know what it will be like - I have done it twice - but she doesn't have the life experience a 36 year old does, ya know?

I then sold the Aquarium swing to a soon to be Grandma expecting her first grandchild. Such a different dynamic!

I put the Christmas tree away today, too. I didn't mean to. I usually leave it up until after the New Years celebration. But in my 'get rid of clutter' free-for-all I wanted to pack up the tree so I could get a better idea of just how much crap I had in my storage in the garage. I did it while the kids were napping (at the same time!! a rare treat!!) - when Emma woke up and wandered into the living room, she FREAKED OUT. "Mama, the christmas tree gone! Where'd it go, Mommy??" I tried to explain to her that it was time for the tree to go bye bye and that it would come back again next year before Santa Claus came back. She accepted that explanation but was still sufficiently upset that she didn't get to say good-bye.

Not to jinx it, but Emma is doing awesome with the potty training. I think I may even be able to say she is trained by day. (We are still doing a diaper at night.) We have been out and about a lot recently and she is using public restrooms with no problem. I bring the portable seat with me and I think that makes all the difference. She feels comfortable and is still very proud of her achievements.

Benny seems to be digging his new forward facing car seat. He falls asleep in it no problem, which makes me feel like he is comfy. Today we made a Costco run and he sat in the front of the cart with Emma and laughed the whole time. He is doing better with table food digestion, too - everything except vegies - I still have to give him the purchased baby ones as he doesn't seem able to digest my pureed ones very well yet.

Emma is enjoying her new "moobies" she got for Christmas - The fox and the hound and the Aristcats. 101 Dalmations is still M.I.A. in my house somewhere... maybe we will find it when we move. ...If I ever find something suitable for the bunch and the dogs.

Merry Christmas!

Something strange happens when you get married and have children. It is the meshing of traditions - especially around the holidays.

If I could have it my own selfish way, we would follow my family's traditions of a quiet Christmas eve with a nice dinner, followed by opening one present each before bed. Then the next morning when everyone wakes up, all madness breaks loose, we open gifts, play with toys, have brunch, play with toys, go to the movies, come home and play with toys, then be in bed by 8pm from exhaustion.

Daddy's family always opened gifts Christmas eve after a big dinner, then went to bed and opened the gifts from Santa Christmas morning. Then they would hang out at their house relaxing on Christmas day usually heading to a friends house in the afternoon to socialize.

Neither tradition is better than the other, just different.

This year our mash-up looked something like this: last night we went to Uncle Raul's house where the whole Batter/Campos/Macksoud clan had a giant pasta dinner (YUM!) followed by the opening of all the presents being exchanged between the attendees. It was a madhouse, kids and toys, bows and ribbon, complete with Ben in the center of it all, beyond exhausted, fussing a bit but happy to be rolling around in the middle of all the discarded wrapping paper and boxes. After the unwrapping fun was done, Emma played race car with her 5 year old cousin Christian - who is madly in love with the little blonde girl and will go to great theatrical lengths to make her laugh and screech with delight - which she did - every 7 seconds. The adults got more joy from watching the two of them giggling than we did from opening presents, again proving that laughter is the best gift of all.

As both children passed out in the car on the ride home, we didn't get a chance to put out cookies and milk for Santa - but from what I hear he gets that kind of good stuff at every other house so quite possibly he was appreciative of the break from carb-overload.

Daddy and I put out the gifts (bad cell phone pic) then settled in to watch a movie on tv - don't ask me which one, I was asleep before the opening credits started rolling.



Ben woke up at 2am - I think Rudolph was making a bit too much noise up on the rooftop - I made him a bottle, laid him in the pack and play in the living room and went back to sleep. I didn't hear him again until 7:15am which is late for him, but I have a feeling he was awake for a while and scoping out the gifts on the table 3 feet away from him all morning as the sun rose.

Emma woke up soon after. I think she thought it just any old day until Daddy and I reminded her that Santa had stopped by. She exclaimed, "It's Christmas time! Rudolph was here! I LOVE Santa Claus!" She excitedly hopped out of bed then ever so shyly walked down the hall poking her head through the doorway to the living room. When she saw all the booty, she turned and hightailed it back to her bedroom! Overwhelmed?

We finally coerced her into coming back to the living room to open the gifts (which took over 90 minutes!) No, she didn't get all that much stuff, she just played with everything for 10 minutes before moving on to opening the next gift! That trait, my friends, did not come from me.

Ben just wanted to do/play with whatever his beloved sister was doing. He followed her everywhere like Mary's little lamb...

While Ben took a very short nap, Daddy and I went out back with Emma and played with her new T-ball set. The kid is a natural. (I may have to set up a t-ball league for the kids in her nursery class at church!) It is about 75˚ today - very un-Christmas like... We did have frost on the grass when we woke up though! I guess that is the closest we will get to a white Christmas here in LA.

Nap time now... Mommy needs one, too.

2 more days!

Ben has outgrown his baby car seat. We loosened the belts as far as we could to keep him safe, but his little legs aren't so little anymore and hang over the bottom of the seat so he can kick the back seat of the car. All those signs has led us to believe that it was time for the big boy seat. We swapped it out yesterday and at first he wasn't very fond of it, but as soon as the car starting rolling, he chilled out and was like, "Hey, this is cool. I can see out the window... New views of the 'hood. Right on, I may just like this." He even fell asleep in it today looking all comfortable, so I think the transition was a success.

Now, I have to make adjustments! You see, when we went shopping anywhere with shopping carts, I would put Emma up front and leave Ben in his car seat in the basket of the cart. I would then drag another cart behind me like a choo choo train. I got pretty darn good at the pushing and pulling with one hand thing, too! Now what do I do? I tried a short stint out at Petco today. I put Ben in top front, and had Emma walk beside me. SHE LOVED THE FREEDOM - loved it a little too much. I lost her twice for about 20 seconds each. Of course Petco is always a ghost town so I wasn't too worried, but what happens when we go to Target? I am going to need to be more disciplined in keeping her close by! Trouble is, I get distracted easily and off she goes!

On another note, I usually don't feed the dogs dinner until the kids are in bed. Cassidy will let you know when it is past their bedtime with her whimpers of starvation! Tonight I was in the Christmas spirit of giving after eating a bunch of homemade fudge my friend, Connie, had dropped off and decided to feed the dogs early while Emma was still awake. She handled it like a pro. "Dogs, SIT! No eat. Wait. Wait. Okay, Doe doe, GO EAT! Cassidy, EAT!" Of course, unlike my children, the dogs didn't listen to her commands of "go eat" as they know who the real boss is around here (as opposed to the train...). Emma kept yelling at them to "GO EAT!" but they wouldn't budge until I gave them the signal. Too funny! Emma then laid down on the floor and watched Apollo eat every last bite. She was fascinated with his chowing and Apollo didn't seem to mind the audience.

The "puppy movie" is still missing but I was able to score the book used at the $1 bookstore that Afton told me about. I actually got a ton of disney used books there for her Christmas stocking. So many of them I remembered having as a kid. I am excited to have new books to read to her! We enjoyed reading 101 Dalmations tonight (early present) and although it wasn't quite the same as her beloved 'puppy movie', she could tell me the story page for page from all the awesome pictures directly from the movie. This girl is way too smart for her 29 months.

Here is a preview of Christmas morning. (We opened some gifts from Gramma Lou before she headed back to PA.) Emma and Daddy being silly, and Ben eating a box. As always, the boxes are more interesting than the gifts that came in them.

Tale as old as time, or at least as old as tv.

Sometimes I worry that I let my kids watch too much tv.

I truly struggle with this. The tv is NOT on all day. If Emma is not awake and Ben is, the tv is off as Ben is fascinated with the screen and I know how important it is for him to get his exploration play time in. If they do watch regular tv (versus a dvd), we only watch Nick Jr - no commercials and the programs are only 10-20 minutes long - perfect amount of time for me to take a shower or get a meal made.

But here is the kicker, Gramma Lou stayed with us for the past week. She and Emma shared the double bed in the kids room and mentioned that Emma not only talks up a storm in her sleep but also sings. I have been privy to this song and talk on occasion, but I think it happens more than I realize because usually it occurs when I am asleep, too! What does she sing? "Tale as old as time. Tune as old as song. Barely even friends then somebody bends unexpectedly..." And, my friends, she sings it with perfect clarity! She is 29 months old. I either have the next Lady Gaga on my hands, or my kid watches too much tv.

On a happy note, last night Gramma said she was talking about "silly Mommy" so at least I make her smile in her dreams!

Bumble torture

Long time no write! We have been out of town at a convention in Arizona and Gramma Lou has been on kiddo duty. We got home about midnight and I wanted so very badly to bust into their bedroom and wake them up and give them big giant hugs. It was the first time I have been away from Ben for any significant amount of time and although I had no Benny withdrawal symptoms while I was at the convention knowing they were in such good hands, as soon as it was over I couldn't wait to get in the car and race home trying very hard to be disciplined with my driving speed for 6 hours!

This morning I heard Ben stirring and Gramma Lou getting him up. I tried to take advantage of having help and closed my eyes to go back to sleep but I just tossed and turned because I wanted to see him so bad! I got up, snuck into the living room and laid down on the floor on my belly. It took a few seconds for Ben to catch sight of me, and when he did the biggest ear to ear smile broke out on his face and he hauled butt across the floor, climbed up into my arms and gave me the longest biggest hug he ever has. It was one of those amazing moments where time stops and hearts explode!

When Emma woke up, I went into her room and hopped in bed with her. She said, "Mommy!" with a big grin, then immediately asked, "Is Gramma Lou home?" I guess it is safe to say she enjoys her time with her gramma.

Both kids have been enjoying watching Rudolph on the dvr all week in preparation for Christmas. Ben is crazy scared of the Abominable Snow Monster and it never ceases to crack us up to watch his reaction when he comes on the screen. The first time we see him, Ben will burst into tears. The next time he will just crawl away and hide behind the table or chair or whatever is nearby to protect him! Then as the show progresses he gets a bit braver and will peak out from his protection and eyeball the tv. Finally by the end of the show he is pretty comfortable with the big white guy and will watch without any adverse reaction. He will repeat this process EVERY TIME we watch Rudolph! HA!

Gramma leaves tomorrow so we are going to have our first Christmas present opening session now. Get the camera ready!

Here comes Santa Claus. BOO HOO HOO HOO!

If you look closely, in the background of these pictures is Jolly Old St. Nicholas. But by the looks on our children's faces, you'd have thought it was the Boogey Man. They were petrified. PETRIFIED! And I talked Santa Claus up all day with Emma. I told her how awesome it was going to be to sit on his lap and tell him what kind of presents she wanted for Christmas. She was so excited! ...until he walked in the door and she RAN the other way. AWESOME!

Here is a comparison of last year's reaction to this year's reaction:


As you can see, not much of a difference. Maybe by the time she is teenager...?

As I type this I am burping up a doughnut. (TMI?) Emma didn't eat much dinner at our ward Christmas party tonight. Why? Because she discovered the dessert table as soon as she walked in the door.

Evidence:

At one point in the evening she walked over to me wearing a doughnut with one bite out of it on her index finger. Picture it. Little hand, small pointy finger, giant doughnut with one bite on it like a wedding ring... She hands it to me saying, "Here, Mommy." Apparently she wasn't fond of the taste - weird kid - but she thought I just may enjoy it, which I did! My girlfriend sitting at the table with me concurred that doughnuts with one bite taken out from your toddler have no calories in them, so I ate it up. YUM! (Don't be jealous Daddy.)


Tonight we tivo'd Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer so Emma can watch it every day until Christmas and I can start using and abusing the "naughty and nice" thing to my advantage. Considering tonight's reaction to Santa, it probably won't work, but a Mama can dream, no?

...I'm a toys*r*us kid...

Benny is testing out his legs. He is pushing off the furniture more and more and standing for a few seconds before bending his legs and falling to the ground. He has finally gotten the hang of "Robble Robble" (i.e. the sesame street walker) too, and is having a blast wandering around the living room and down the hallway. Yesterday he pulled himself up on one side of the kitchen cabinets and walked down the length of them holding onto the handles. Today he circled the coffee table. It is only a matter of time before my baby boy is no longer a baby and turns into a "toddler".

Emma had another accident free day. Turns out she is no longer a toddler and is turning into a little girl.

Does this mean I finally have to grow up, too?

Ben gets a huge kick out of taking a bath with his big sister. He splashes like a madman and laughs and squeals with delight. Emma likes to "wash Benny's back" and I enjoy watching them play together. The only hairy thing is getting them out when bathtime is done. I pluck Ben out first, get him dried, lotioned, and dressed, then I snatch Emma out and do the same. Only challenge is, when I am drying Emma, Ben is trying to crawl back into the tub to play more. I didn't notice until it was too late, but tonight he tossed his shoes in the draining water. I rescued them before they got soaked so hopefully they will dry by morning.

Emma just screamed out, "Mommy, HELP! I'm stuck. Please, Mommy, HELP!" I ran in there to see what was the matter and she said, "Mommy, Emma laying on Dee-it. Dee-it stuck!" (Dee-it is her name for her blanket. Don't ask. I have no idea who what when where why or how that name came to fruition.) "Emma, roll over so you can grab Dee-it yourself. You don't need Mommy's help." "No, Mommy, you do it. Please! Dee-it stuck!" I yanked it out from under her, covered her up and haven't heard a peep from her since.

Dialogue from Casa Califa:

Heard around my home today:

"Ben, get your hand out of there." - as I am trying to change his diaper and he keeps grabbing at his junk.

"Mommy, what are your thoughts?" - said Emma, as I am staring off into space daydreaming about something or other.

"Emma, is it pee pee time?" "No, it's sneeze time. Ah-choo!" with a big giant fake sneeze.

"Emma, did you pee on the floor?" "No, Mommy, it's just water." "Then why are your pants wet?" "It's okay, Mommy, you buy new ones."

As I was putting Ben's jammies on him tonight Emma ran into the room. "Mommy, I'm home!" "Where did you go?" "I don't know but you wanna hug me?"

And just to put you in the Christmas spirit, Emma was singing, "Rudolph the red deer nose..."

And just to make you smile, as we put her to bed, "I love you Emma." "I love you, Mama." Music to my ears.

My own island of misfits.

Lots of sassafras but with equal amounts of fun and amusement from 'ole toddler today. I can't quite remember the order of how it all happened, but here were some of my favorites.

As Daddy was making lunch and I was feeding Benny, Emma was mouthing off at me bossing me around and I said to her, "Don't you talk to me like that. I am the boss." She replied with even greater sass, "No, you not the bus, you a train!"

Later, she didn't like the pace at which I was cooking dinner so you came up behind me and smacked me on the rump saying, "I smack your butt. You in timeout!"

Ben has discovered that if he pulls himself up on the Arrowhead water dispenser he can now reach the lever that dispenses the agua. Guess what Ben likes to do every time he crawls into the kitchen now? Well, today, as Ben was breaking the law, Daddy busted out "the voice" and gave Benny a solid, "NO!" in that bowel shaking earth quaking rumble that he has mastered and scared the crap out of the poor baby. It completely scarred him as every other time Ben tried to pull himself up and I said "No" ever so sweetly, Ben burst into tears! If he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night tonight I can bet that he was dreaming of that darn dispenser and Daddy depriving him of all his fun.

Maybe that is what we can get him for Christmas - a 5 gallon jug of water to waste all over the kitchen floor. Best present ever!

Everyone loves crock pot beef stew!

A skirmish has broken out here in the Batter household. While blood has yet to be shed, lots of tears have fallen. Emma has discovered "pride" and when it gets in the way of our day to day dealings, she ends up in timeout or like tonight, in bed without milk or story time.

She is a very sweet good little girl 90% of the time, it is just that other 10% that pushes my buttons. Tonight she was tipping her sippy cup upside down and watching the milk drip out onto the floor. I asked her to please stop but she blatantly disobeyed me and ended up with a swat to the bum and in timeout. I told her when she was ready to say 'I'm sorry' she could leave time out and join Ben and me for some book reading. She screamed at me, "I'M NOT SAYING I'M SORRY. EMMA GOOD GIRL. SHE NOT SORRY!" "Oh, really?" I replied, "If you aren't going to say I'm sorry then you can go to bed." I plopped her in bed and closed the door. I think that surprised her as she then was just whimpering but not screaming at me like she sometimes does.

When I put Ben in his crib 10 minutes later, she pleasantly asked me for some milk. I asked her if she was ready to say, "I'm sorry." She said, "No. Emma good girl. She not sorry." again, but at least this time she wasn't yelling at me. I then told her when she found a way to say "I'm sorry" she could have her milk. It has been 15 minutes and her pride won't let her yet. HA!

She is currently in bed saying, "Emma sad. Boo hoo hoo hoo." Yes, she is actually saying the words boo hoo hoo hoo. I don't know where she learned them, but it cracks us up when she fake cries with them!

On a pleasant note, this morning when I opened the curtains and the sunlight streamed into the window, Emma caught sight of the dust particles floating in the air. She yelled excitedly, "Mommy, sun fuzzies! I'm gonna catch 'em!" Then streaked through the beams with shrieks of delight. The memory almost makes up for tonight's battle... Okay, it more than makes up for it.

We made it to the park today for a walk around the duck lake and then some time on the playground. It was 44˚ when we arrived and 52˚ when we left. COLD! But the sun was strong and the air was clear after yesterday's rains so it was the perfect morning. Emma found herself a new pal-for-a-day in a 20 month old boy named Clint. They ended the perfect playdate by jumping in the leftover puddles from the storm. Both children were soaked to the bone, but couldn't have been happier which made me smile even though I had to strip her naked in 52˚weather for the car ride home so her seat wouldn't get soaked.

On a completely random note, Ben looks exactly like Daddy. I see it more and more every day. His beautiful blue eyes that the pediatrician said would stay blue are even turning brown. Now, I happen to like looking at Daddy, so I don't mind the changes, but I did slave away for 39 weeks so my ego was hoping I would at least get a little something for recognition. Emma is a good mix of Daddy and I but to hear her speak - she sounds just like Daddy. For example, today she randomly said, "Mom, I want some chocolate." (Daddy's favorite...) Then tonight when I was making dinner she informed me, "Mommy, Emma want mac and cheese." Again, just like her father!

Ben made it known that he has had enough with the baby food and doesn't care about the diaper rash (which is all cleared up) when Emma had to use the potty mid-dinner. I put her bowl on the table and we raced into the bathroom. When we were finished, we returned to the table to find that Ben had snatched the bowl off the table and had dumped the contents on the floor and was sitting in the middle of it all shoving fistfuls into his mouth. YUM!

Sleep deprived, but happy

What a weekend! I think we've gotten about 10 hours of good sleep since Thursday. We are all exhausted but it was worth every minute.

I love having company - I just wish we resided in a place that was company friendly! The kids gave up their room for the long weekend to our friends and their 18 month old and we all slept in our bedroom. The first night Emma slept with us and Ben slept in the playpen. That was disastrous. And by disastrous I mean – "adjective 1. causing great distress or injury; ruinous; very unfortunate; calamitous: The rain and cold proved disastrous to his health." or my personal example: "Emma woke up at midnight screaming, which woke up Ben, who wouldn't go back to sleep and just wanted to play resulting in Emma not going back to sleep until 4am - DISASTROUS."

At 2am Brian, Ben, Emma and I were all laying in our bed wide awake watching a baby Einstein dvd. Brian and I looked at each other and just laughed. What else could we do?? Needless to say we were pretty beat up Saturday but that didn't stop us from having a blast hosting a bbq for all our LA 'family'. Emma did awesome on the potty the whole day - even with all the commotion - only 2 accidents, we were very proud of her!

Last night we finally got smart and after the kids fell asleep, we swapped them out putting Ben in our bed and Emma in the pack and play. We all slept until 5am when Mandy and Doc and Avery woke up to get ready to go to the airport. We were sad to see them go, but happy to back to normal. I have spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry and cleaning up after Emma who seems to have forgotten how to use the potty. Argh. We will dive back in full force when she wakes from her nap.

NO WAY!

Hey, Emma, let's have some lunch.
"NO WAY!"
Hey, Ems, you want to play outside?
"NO WAY!"
Bugaboo, please give Benny the monkey. He wants to play with it.
"NO WAY!"

Who taught her this phrase??

Potty training is still going well. Only two small accidents today... Then tonight, she actually said to me, "Mommy, pee pee time!" We raced into the bathroom and she peed on the potty! Whohoo!

My East Coast best friend (vs my West Coast) is in town for a long weekend. She has an 18 month old. I haven't seen her since she had the baby, but since we talk on the phone 4 or 5 times a week, it is almost as if she never left and it has been 3.5 years. When she pulled into my driveway and her husband pulled this cutie pie little girl out of the back seat I had a weird moment of "alternate universes" colliding. You see, they are the couple with whom we used to party hearty and have spirited conversations into the wee hours of the morning. And now we are both parents with cute little tow head children and are in bed by 8:30pm and our spirited conversation is limited to talk of poopy diapers and runny noses!

It was so cool seeing her interact with her daughter. She is a great mom and her husband is awesome with Avery, too. I am looking forward to Saturday when the entire "LA family" is together again... I'll try and post a pics of the rugrats soon.

So close...

I haven't been posting because I don't want to jinx it. "It" being the whole potty training thing.

The "something" I have been waiting for to click in her brain has indeed clicked and I THINK SHE'S GOT IT! We are down to just one or two accidents a day if that. She still doesn't speak up when she has to go, but we are pretty good at judging her "pee pee dances" and if we ask her if she needs to go, she doesn't hesitate to run to the bathroom. She continues to get a huge kick out of our praises and the stickers on the chart game. We are blowing through charts pretty quick now, so I have to start making them bigger!

Ben is continuing his preparation for entering the WWE when he is old enough. He has the wrestling skills down, and is getting pretty good at the theatrical part of it as well with his dramatic outcries and comedic goofy faces. Maybe I will make him a cape for Christmas and put him in some bathing trunks and video his antics so you will believe me when I say the kid is only 10 months old but has mad skills.

I hate overalls, too.

Emma and I had a giant fight this morning just before we were walking out the door. Surely it will be the first of many of it's kind. We had a very heated discussion about what she was wearing and what she wanted to wear. As she is only 28 months old, I won, but I am not sure of how many more of these battles will tip in my favor!

Today's battle was over a stupid sweatshirt. Oh, I'm sorry, a Disney Princess sweatshirt. I am pretty sure the designer of this sweatshirt never had kids, or at least never had a daughter. You see, the sweatshirt is a cute pink hoodie with the Disneyland logo on the front and the 5 popular princesses on the back. Yes, you read that correctly. The princesses are on the back - where a 28 month old CAN'T SEE THEM. She wanted ever so desperately to wear the sweatshirt, but she wanted to wear it backwards so the princesses were "Right here, Mommy!" as she slapped her belly. "But, Emma, the sweatshirt is a hoodie, you can't wear it backwards. You won't be able to see and it just may choke you." "NO, MOMMY! PRINCESSES RIGHT HERE. EMMA WANNA SEE 'EM."

We wrestled for a good 5 minutes until I tossed the darn sweatshirt cross the room and found another one without a hood and the princesses on the front. It was blue and didn't match her outfit what-so-ever, but it was a compromise that she accepted and I was able to get her into the car and we got our day underway. OI!

Potty training was awesome today. No accidents. WOW!

Ben was non-stop chatterbox fun all afternoon. Soooo adorable.

At 7:30pm, Emma said, "Mommy, Emma tired. (fake yawn) Go take a nap. Need pajamas." I almost fell off my chair! Auntie Cole helped me put her to bed and we didn't hear a peep from her the rest of the night. Must be a full moon!

postcards from daddy

Midnight. Just finished watching Gladiator and feel quite introspective...Emma went to bed at 8:15 while mommy slept on the couch. By 9:30 all I hear is, "Daddy, Emma's awake, Emma's awake!" So I hopped into her bed and sang a lullaby and stared at the profile of an adorable 2 year old child. Cheeks, nose, eyelashes, and chin - all so tiny. The utter simplicity of her emotion is refreshing, for example, I'm awake, come hang out with me. Or playdate's over and my friend is leaving - that sucks! Mommy and Beto are laying on the couch and I wanna too! Albeit that most of anything that we do is on her terms, she's still pretty cool to hang out with. : )

Mommy and I were invited to speak at our firms El Segundo location today, and we had an absolute blast. At least I did, because I had the privilege of watching my superhero wife explain how she developed her belief in the idea that our biz would be a family biz, even though the majority of her biz is staying at home and raising our little ones. I was able to hear the compliments and adulation for her talk, all of which is immensely well deserved. We are so blessed to be surrounded by quality people who have a sincere desire to serve others and bring value to each other. I wish someone would have told me how rewarding this is 20 years ago so that I wouldn't have wasted so much time!

I'm rambling now, but let it be documented that daddy cooked dinner and enjoyed every moment of it. Emma was lit up to eat pasta and Ben was slappin' moms plate as though he were making hand impressions at the Chinese theater. Needless to say the sauce was a hit (Daddy's got a lot of Italian in him don't forget - and I don't mean my mozzarella and parmesan, ahem ahem...)

Emma went on the potty 3 times while we were gone! But she saved a present for mommy when we got home, in her excitement she peed all over herself! I love the whole potty training exercise, I've seen more 2 year old butt streaking around the house than ever, and it's VERY hard not to laugh at baby butt.

I actually just said that.

Holy crap, I'm a parent.

daddy

Gobble gobble!

It is 7:30am. I have been up since 5am because Emma cried out in her sleep and I couldn't fall back to sleep. Ben woke up at 6:30 ready to take on the day, jibberjabbering something about, "Dadada mamama dedede BLEH!" I scooped him up fast so he wouldn't wake his sister, came out into the living room and contemplated the day.

Today. Today is Thanksgiving. And, let me tell you, folks, I have a whole heck of a lot to be thankful for. Because my kids are early birds, I get to watch the sun rise every morning. I get to enjoy my amber light filled living room as the sun shines through my fancy curtains. I get to have a good hour of Benny-solo time where we wrestle on the couch and build with blocks and giggle the early morning away. When Emma wakes up, I get to listen to her plan our day. It usually includes watching movies and visiting our friends and family members back east (who I am eternally grateful for) and often times a trip to the zoo. Then I get to see the joy in their eyes when they realize Daddy is home and sleeping "in d bed" and how much they love to run in there and wake him up. "Daddy's awake!"

I vaguely remember my life before kids. I am glad I waited so long to find the perfect husband and perfect father. I've traveled the world solo and look forward to doing it again - except this time with my family when they are a bit older and can appreciate the people and the places and we can make lasting memories together. For now I am happy to stay home and nurture and challenge and love and play and watch these little people grow into the amazing big people they are destined to be. I am one lucky Mama. I am one thankful Mama. Happy Thanksgiving!

Stuck

I can write about things other than potty training. Really I can. But this is a blog about my children. And, one of those childrenz just happens to be in the throws of potty training.

Now, when I say "throws" it can mean "in the midst" or "in the middle" or it can mean "throw" as in "I'm going to throw the kid out the window if she doesn't get it soon."

But, as you can see from the sticker filled potty chart #2 to your left, the chart is filled. That means in the past 8 days, Emma had peed or poohed on the potty 31 times! That's pretty good, right? She did a great job today - only about 5 accidents, and those accidents happen when she is too engrossed in playing to want to tell me she has to go.

Her new phrase after completing the task is, "I'm all done!" It's the cutest thing. I'll be in the kitchen and hear her across the house, "Mommy! I'm all done!" I'll go into the bathroom and say, "Did you do it? Did you pee?" She will jump up off the potty grinning from ear to ear awaiting my huge approval.

Tonight she is having trouble falling asleep. I just spent the past 30 minutes sitting with her in the bathroom. She has to go #2 but it just won't cooperate. She was in her room yelling, "Mommy, help! Help!" I went in to find her stiff as a board trying not to go in her overnight diaper. We had no luck on the potty so I put her back to bed. She is now standing at her door saying over and over, "Emma's awake. Emma's awake. I'm all done. No more napping time. Please, Mommy. Please!" It's going to be a long night... She just said, "I'm stuck in the bedroom. Oh man. Mommy, please help me." I had better publish this and go give her a hug.

Murphey strikes again

As yesterday was such a great day on the road to winning the P6-E challenge, you can imagine my surprise when my old pal, Murphy's Law, paid a visit today and screwed up everything.

Let's just put it this way: By 9:30am, we had already gone through 5 changes of clothes.

This continued throughout the day and by nap time I was 'broken' so I put a diaper on her and she slept for 2 and 1/2 hours. She woke up nearly dry so we placed her on the potty and she peed. Hoo-freakin'ray!

She had a few accidents this evening, too, but I was encouraged by one event. She had no clothes on streaking around the house before her bath. I was in the bathroom getting the tub ready. She came running in, sat down on the potty (without me prompting her to do so) and peed. She had this awesome look of pride on her face - she didn't say a thing - just smiling from ear to ear as she stood up, looked into the potty, then waited for me to acknowledge it - which I did with thunderous applause and hoots and hollers.

She just may be getting it. Alas, tomorrow is another day and we will see how P6-E, week 2 day 1 begins. My fingers hurt from having them crossed for a week now.

Texas HOLD IT!

Emma had a great day on the potty yesterday. No accidents until about 5pm just as we were about to walk out the door (of course!). She also did a #2 on the potty again - hooray!

We have a few "potty" books that she enjoys reading. One of them ends with the little girl peeing on the potty and saying the phrase, "I'm so proud of me!" When Emma pees on the potty, she yells, "Mommy, I did it! I'm so proud of me!" It is the cutest freakin' thing in the whole world.

Needless to say, she filled up the Princess potty chart and got her present - a Sleeping Beauty Magical Marker and Coloring book set. I made a new chart yesterday with a picture of the 101 Dalmatians on it. She loves the whole sticker idea and it certainly seems to help encourage her to pee on the potty.

What I am finding is that if I place her on the potty, she can and will do some business. But if she is playing or watching her favorite show, she will pee in her panties. She has made the connection to pee when on the potty but has not figured out how to hold it yet if she isn't on the potty. That is what we are going to work on today...

Ben's butt looks a billion times better. He hasn't had any table food for a few days which has helped with the squirts. I'm going to give his little digestive system a few more days until we try again slowly reintroducing foods and see which ones are wreaking havoc on his colon.

P6-E-4 or Not Far Now!

Here you have it, my friends. The P6-E chart. For those of you not up to speed, that stands for the Princess Pee Pee and Poopy Path Present Extravaganza (I think... scroll down a few blogs and confirm this. I am so delirious from potty training that I just don't have the energy to do it myself!).

I stole the pic from Amazon, printed it off, drew up the chart and provided the stickers when business was accomplished on the potty.

As you can see, we are one elimination away from from the mythical Princess present (which Daddy was kind enough to pick up from Toys R Us yesterday) so, fingers crossed, we should achieve that tomorrow!

I believe we only had 5 pee pee in big girl panties today and a bunch on the potty - I lost track in my excitement. Again - I feel that having my timer set for every 20 minutes and placing her on the potty when it goes off is the reason she peed so much on the potty, but from what I gather, that is all part of the "process" and she will make the connection soon enough. We even ventured out of the house for about 70 minutes, stopping at Goodwill, the supermarket, and the Dollar Store to grab new books and she stayed dry the entire time! Then we got home, she sat on the potty and peed (whohoo!) then peed her panties again 15 minutes later while sitting on my lap. Yep, she got us both.

When she did have accidents, it was the usual, "Mommy, I'm pooping." (when she was really wetting herself) except for the one time when she really was pooping. Daddy tried to help me out with that one and we ended up with a giant pile 'o pooh on the tile floor in the bathroom... TMI?

I am tired and heading to bed for the 4th night in a row before 9pm... I can't even remember my old school bartender days when the night was just beginning at 9pm...

P6-E -5, I am coming to get you and I will win.

On a funny side Benny note... Ben and I were playing blocks on the floor earlier tonight. I would build a tower 5 blocks high and he would knock it down. Every time he did so he would look to me for approval. I would clap my hands and shout, "You did it, Ben!" He would get so excited that he would stand himself up on his knees and lean into my mouth and give me the sloppiest most wonderful open mouthed baby kiss ever. We repeated the process about 20 times. Daddy was cracking up and I think I have chapped lips because of it! That might be one of my all time favorite "Benjermin" (as Emma calls him) moments ever.

Stardate P6-E day 3

Today, my friends, was a very good day.

Oh, don't get me wrong. Emma did not miraculously acquire the skills to use the toilet on her own. As a matter of fact, she peed her big girl panties TEN TIMES. Yes, TEN TIMES. But, she also peed on the potty FOUR TIMES! Yep, you read that correctly. She urinated 14 times today. 14! Who urinates 14 times a day. Is she diabetic? Is she on the super model all water diet? No and no. She just pees a lot!

So, lets focus on the positive. FOUR TIMES on the potty. WOOHOO!

Now, to be honest and fair, I am pretty sure I just got lucky those four times. I had the timer set for every 20 minutes and she was very good about sitting on the potty when I asked her to. But I don't believe she yet has the comprehension that when she feels like she has to pee she goes to the bathroom to do it because way too many times today she pulled the 'ole, "Mommy, I'm pooping." (which means peeing (!?!)...) as she was doing it and not a second before so we could run to the bathroom.

We even did practice runs!

Picture this. I put a fresh pair of big girl panties on her and new pants, then I said, "Okay, Ems, lets practice! When you feel like you need to go pee pee, yell, 'Mommy, pee pee!' and run really fast to the bathroom." Then we would practice running really fast around the house to the potty. She got a huge kick out of the practice, then would pee herself 15 minutes later.

Oh, well. I will simply be thankful that I have my own washer and dryer in the garage and I can wash her clothes every night before I go to bed and not have to go to a laundry mat!

Ben's rash looks a wee bit better, but not much. If it is still ugly come Monday, we will head over to the pediatrician and see if he can do a better job of diagnosing and treating the problem than me. Boo.

Just before Emma went to bed she whispered in my ear ever so adorably, "Mommy, can I watch the puppy movie. It's right dere." She is so darn sweet and cute and loving and caring and sensitive and friendly and and and... I could go on and on - but you all already know how madly in love I am with my little girl. And my little baby boy. And my husband. ...but not the dogs. : )

Day 2

If you haven't read yesterday's post, skip this one, read that one first, then come on back to this one. Really. Do it. Don't be lazy. This post will make so much more sense if you scroll down and read that one first. Why are you making this so difficult. Are you 28 months old?

Now that I got that out of my system... Today was day 2 of the Princess Path Pee Pee and Poopy Present Extravaganza - or P6-E as I am now calling it. Was today a little more successful than yesterday (because, really, that is all we are asking for, right?)? Well yesterday she peed her pants 7 times and peed in the potty 1 time. Today she peed her pants 7 times, BUT POOPED IN THE POTTY! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Not so much for the fact that she actually did it, but more so for the fact that I didn't have to clean up poopy big girl panties! (It's all about me, folks.)

To be fair to all my loyal readers, I must admit that she has been a bit constipated as of late. That constipation worked for me today because I saw her pained expression from the constipation and observed her squeezing her cute little butt cheeks together. Of course I was bathing Ben at the time, so I plucked him from the tub, wrapped him in a towel and sat him on the floor while I scooped her up, tossed her on the potty and cheered her 'til I was horse to, "Push it out, shove it out, waaaaaaay out!" She finally passed that first hard nugget, then it was all easy from there. She was so proud and once again we made a big deal about putting the sticker on the chart and how she was one square closer to the mysterious princess present (That I have yet to purchase...).

10 minutes later she peed all over the leather chair while watching Max and Ruby, but, hey that's cool, at least it wasn't poop!

Tomorrow is day 3. We will stay home all day again and be focused. After tomorrow, we venture back out into the real world sans diapers and if she pees herself sitting in the shopping cart at Costco, I am not going to fret about it. I will purchase what I need, roll her back to the car and change her in the parking lot. NO MORE DIAPERS IN THE DAY. I'll worry about the night when I get this daytime figured out. Or more than likely after we move as she can't quite turn the doorknob to get out of her room when the door is closed and I have to close her door at night or the poor thing will freeze to death in our ancient uninsulated cottage.

Poor Benny's diaper rash is back and uglier than ever. He is eating all kind of table food and his body is trying to adjust which means lots of diarrhea to aggravate the problem. I need a separate timer just for him that reminds me to check his diaper every 30 minutes so we can get him cleared up. His bottom is red raw and my heart breaks every time I take his diaper off and hear him howl. The triple butt paste doesn't seem to help so I have been using the jock itch cream, but I am afraid to use it too much because it isn't made "for babies" per se. HELP!

Princess Path Pee Pee and Poopy Present Extravaganza

I'm delirious. I am running on fumes. The left side of my trapezius muscle feels like there is a knife stabbing into it.

Why? Today was day 1 of the Princess Path Pee Pee and Poopy Present Extravaganza.

Yes, that is what I am calling it. Others call it "Potty Training."

This morning I got up extra early, courteous of Benjamin, so I decided to draw up a fun potty chart for Emma's first day of big girl panties. I printed off a picture of her favorite princesses and drew checks leading up to it like a Candyland game. Every time she does her bidness in the potty, she gets a sticker to place in one of the squares. When she makes it to the princess picture, she gets a princess themed present (15 squares - or three days of focused potty training).

She slept in pretty late until 9am because she was up until 2 am with horrendous congestion. After many hours of unsuccessful soothing, I finally remembered the Vicks I had in the medicine cabinet, lubed her up, and out she went. She woke up with a pretty wet diaper, but we sat on the potty for about 5 minutes anyways. We then made a grand gesture about putting the big girl panties on and talked about how Emma is no longer a baby, that she has transitioned into a big girl and doesn't need diapers anymore. She was VERY excited. I set the timer and every 20 minutes she sat on the potty but to no avail. At 11:20 I went out to clean up the dog poop before the gardeners arrived, she followed me out and peed all over the deck. At least she was outside, right?

I cleaned her up, reset the timer and we continued the game. At about 2pm she still hadn't peed again and it was naptime so I sat her down for a longer potty session. We grabbed the dvd player and settled into an Oswald episode. A few minutes later I heard the sprinkle tinkle into the potty. Daddy was home and we made a HUGE deal about the success. She got a big kick about putting the sticker on the Princess chart and was very proud. I thought, "This is going to be easy!" We put her in for a nap but she was too excited and just jumped on the bed for a little over an hour. I finally let her come out, set her on the potty for 5 minutes, nothing happened so we set the timer for 20 minutes again and continued our afternoon of play.

Here's where it goes SOUTH.

And by south I mean 6 PAIRS OF UNDERWEAR IN LESS THAN 3 HOURS.

It did not click with her this afternoon and evening. Even though we were trying every 20 minutes, she couldn't get the timing down. She would say while she was peeing on the floor, "Mommy, Emma go poopy." And by poopy she meant pee pee down her legs.

I tried to keep a positive attitude and kept reminding her about the princess present but I have to tell you, I almost gave up and slapped a diaper on her after the 7th time on my hands and knees cleaning up pee. Once again, I thank God for hardwood floors.

We will continue to try again tomorrow and Friday. I have cleared my schedule so we can be home and focused. PLEASE LET TOMORROW GO MORE SUCCESSFUL! My fingers and toes are crossed...

1 down, 8 to go.

Ben used up the first of his nine lives last night. Guardian Angel Daddy swooped in at the very last possible I'm telling you this kid would have broken his neck second. Have I mentioned how thankful I am that Daddy is in our lives and how much I love him?

Picture the scene. We were with a bunch of families enjoying a get together at a friend's house who recently moved to the "country". Ben was digging it because the living room was carpeted and he could move fast without his little knees hurting on the hardwood floors. At one point he moved so fast that he was about to go down a flight of stairs. Daddy saw a little head teetering at the top of the steps and realized it belonged to our dear sweet Benny.

He dove across the living room "I'm a lacrosse goalie and nuttin' is gettin' by me" style, and scooped Ben up by the rib cage just as he was about to go humpty dumpty. All I saw was Daddy's bum flying through the air and him coming up with an unfazed Benny sucking away at his binky all The Simpsons Maggie-like.

On the car ride home, Daddy asked if he could hold this against Ben when he was 16 and acting like, well, a teenager. You know it's gonna happen, after an "I'm 16 and I know what's best for me!" argument, daddy's gonna pull out the ol' "I knew I shoulda let you roll down the stairs..."

Pass me the remote contronkal, please.

Oh, it's cold. I'm talking 43˚ in Encino - my oh my, it's cold. I had forgotten what 43˚ felt like in an uninsulated cottage. ME NO LIKEY. The kids have the fancy digital Sharper Image space heater in there room so it stays a warm and toasty 71˚ in there all night. Brian and I woke up able to see our breath this morning! Might be time to get the gas-man out to turn on the pilot so we can have some heat in the house.

Or maybe NOT. We went to have a 2nd look at the house we love in Pasadena last night. It is only 5 years old which means CENTRAL HEAT and AC! New windows! Insulation! Joy of joys! We met the owner who has been out of town since we discovered it, handed in an application, and now we wait. She was very friendly and loved the kiddos. When it was time to go, the un-napped Emzilla let loose and started screaming that she didn't want to leave. The house is 2-story, you see, and 'ole Emzilla loves herself some stairs. "Her" bedroom is carpeted, too, and has a giant closet with new (meaning not warped and easy to open and close) slidey doors on it. She was having a blast playing hide and seek. Brian had to scoop her up and she fought him the whole time. The owner was laughing saying, "Ah, how sweet, she doesn't want to leave her new bedroom." I'll take that as a good sign but won't count my chickens before they hatch.

We went out for a special family dinner afterward in downtown Pasadena using the $$ we made off the yard sale. I had forgotten how cosmopolitan Pasadena's main drag is and really enjoyed the vibe. There were so many restaurants to choose from and we ended up at a Brazilian place. I was a little worried when the menu came with no prices, but we had a whopping $126 to spend so I figured we were covered. (Would they mind being paid in singles? That is a different story!)

It started with a gourmet salad buffet - tasty stuff, Brazilian spiced. I tried to pick items I knew Emma would eat off my plate. She wasn't much interested in the salad portion but when the main courses starting rolling in - LOOK OUT. You would have thought we hadn't fed her in days. We had 15 courses of MEAT come our way. The chefs kept bringing by the table different skewers of freshly grilled cow, duck, chicken, and sausages. The YUM! stuff like bacon wrapped filet mignon, top sirloin, skirt steak, rib eye, beef ribs that surely came from a dinosaur not a cow. We'd never seen ribs that huge! Emma ate - no housed - it all. I was worried they would charge me a 3rd person fee! : )

Both kids behaved impeccably. Emma was too busy eating to misbehave and Ben was chillin' in his stroller people watching. When the bill came it was only $71 for 2 people, I was pleasantly surprised and we would probably return there on a special occasion.

The yard sale went well. We didn't get a whole lot of traffic, but I was able to sell off the bulk of 9-18 months girls clothes. Would you believe not one item of boys clothes sold nor did any of the toys? I will put the toys on craigslist and see if we get any takers, and I made an appointment with my favorite resale store in Burbank to sell the remainder of the clothes. Even if they give me a store credit it is well worth it as I get lots of great gently used goods from them. I was able to sell my picnic table and giant umbrella and am looking forward to getting a smaller set after we settle into a new place.

Word of the day: Emma has the cutest vernacular. My favorite is still the remote control. When she wants to watch something on tv, she hands me the 'mote and says, "Here, Mommy. Lets watch it. Here! Use the remote contronkal." If I tell her no, it is not tv time, she will get one of her large legos and point it at the tv saying, "Emma, do it." as she presses the bumps on the lego.

Come and get it!

Emma calls the Barbie she got for her birthday from Aunt Laurie, "Darbie." It cracks us up. No matter how many times we correct her, the next time she picks it up, "Darbie" it is. Poor Darbie could use some clothes other than the ones she is wearing. "Oh, Santa Claus, are you reading this blog?"

Yesterday we watched a 3 month old little boy for about 6 hours as his usual babysitter's family has the swine flu. He was fussy for the first few hours as he was really gassy, but after he blew it out he calmed down. Emma was having a blast showing him all her toys and Ben was pretty oblivious of him even though I was holding him for most of the day. It was good "birth control" as it reminded me that I like having 2 - just 2 - kids. You know, one for each parent.

What I mean by that is, Emma got a lot of attention because she is 2 and she commands it. Dahvi got lots of attention because he wasn't feeling well and he needed it. Ben didn't get much attention because he is so independent and sweet and didn't require it. Although Ben didn't seem to mind, I felt terribly guilty! My girlfriend in Orlando told me not to have any more kids as Ben doesn't deserve to be the middle kid. (She is the middle child as am I.) I disagreed with her until yesterday. I am truly excited about our decision to stop at 2 and am so very glad we had them back to back. They are the best of buds now and although I know they will have their differences growing up, I believe they will always be close.

All my goods for the yard sale are priced and ready to go. It will be interesting to see if Emma goes crazy when I start selling off her old stuff. I marked everything at rock bottom prices just to get it off my hands (i.e. out of my garage). Daddy will be gone most of the morning so I am on my own. I am thinking to set up the tent in the front yard with the dvd player so I can keep the babes occupied while I bargain with the shoppers.

Sunrise in my eyes

We have a new obsession in the house, Beauty and the Beast.

Auntie Cole brought it over on Monday night and we have watched it every morning since. This obsession will get no complaints from me as it is my favorite Disney movie! As a teenager I felt just like Belle. I was living in a poor provincial town and couldn't wait to escape to some far off place - ha! There is nothing like starting your day off with, "Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour! There goes the baker with his tray like always..." Thanks, Auntie Cole!!

Once again I would like to emphasis to you that raising a baby boy is different than raising a baby girl. Hmmm, who woulda thunk it? Ben is almost 10 months now (!) and if they had WWF for babies, my son would be world champion. Ben LOVES to wrestle. He has no fear - in fact you have to be super careful when you are holding him because he will dive bomb backwards (off the ropes) Superfly Snucka like at any given moment. His (and to be frank, MY) favorite time of the day is when the 3 of us get on Emma's bed and wrestle. I lay on my side and he climbs up to standing position, then will either dive over the top of me or nestea plunge backwards onto the bed then thrash around all crazy like. Emma gets the biggest kick out of it and joins in. I have to watch her feet as in her excitement she gets a little to kicky, but the two of the rolling around and jumping on each other, laughing like hyenas is music to our ears.

My living room is filled with boxes of kids stuff that I am going through and pricing out. Daddy and I have decided to close up shop (i.e. no more babies - sorry grandparents to have you read it here!) so we are having a blowout yard sale this Saturday morning to cleanse our house of all the baby clutter - I mean baby goods - that I have been saving "just in case." Stop on by if you are in the 'hood! We are also planning on moving soon as Daddy got a huge promotion and don't want to be lugging unnecessary items to a new residence. Pasadena, here we come!

I have been up since 5am and could use a mid-morning nap. No, Ben was not this morning's early bird. For some unearthly reason, Emma decided it was her turn to catch the worm. So, sleepy...

Gorillas in the ...mist?

'ole Sassafrass is getting quicker and quicker with her mouthing off. Case in point:

"Come here, Emma, and put this dress on."
"NO! THAT'S DIRTY. EMMA PEED ON IT!"

"Emma, do you need a spankin'?"
"No, I need some bacon!"

She is starting to make observations out loud in public, too. So far they have all been positive like, "She has pretty bow in hair." and "I like your elephant." and "You wanna go play?" These were all at the mall the other day in various elevators. As Daddy and I try to EPR our kids constantly (encourage, praise, recognize the good things they do), she hasn't lashed out with any negative or demeaning phrases yet. I am dreading the day when we get on the elevator with an obese person and she asks, "Why you fat?" as I have heard other children do!

Yesterday we had a people filled day. The kids came to the office with us and the 10 year old son of one of our business partners watched them in Daddy's office while we did about 90 minutes of training in the big room. We were a door away and I had my cell phone on vibrate so Matthew could text me if he needed any help. I brought the dvd player so they could watch a movie, plenty of snacks, and various toys and coloring books etc to keep them (i.e. Emma) occupied. Matthew was awesome and was thrilled when I slipped him $15 for his time (a sitter at the house costs me $25). I could tell he was getting a bit frustrated with Emma from time to time - who doesn't? - with the following texts. "Where are the other movies?" (Just hit replay and you can watch the same movie again. Emma won't mind.) "Yeah, but I don't wanna watch it again." I laughed at this one knowing he is 10 and I am not. That is the difference between a two year old, a ten year old and a mother - 2 year olds and mothers can watch it over and over and over if it keeps said 2 year old quiet for a bit longer, 10 year olds cannot! Then he texted, "How many times does she need to see the fish in the tank?" The office has a fish tank with clownfish in it and Emma loves to go see "Nemo". (Just distract her with other activities, color, dvd, books.) "I did, but she also wants to do another thing in five minutes." (Hahaha! That's what 2 year olds do. U need help?) "Not yet."

Then in the afternoon Evie and Baby Emry, Lawrence and Porter came over for our babysitting co-op night. We had buddies in the house from 3:30 to 8:30 and Emma was in Heaven and Ben was cracking us up confirming Darwin's Theory that we evolved from monkeys. For example, Emry, who is about 5 wks younger than Ben, was sitting on the floor playing. Ben crawled over to her with his "Oo-oo-oo" monkey "o" face, planted himself right in front of her, pawed at her face for a few seconds, then rolled himself into downward dog shoving his butt right in her face as a gorilla in the wild would do! Then he would put his arms up straight over his head, bend his hands and wiggle his fingers all orangutan-like saying, "Oo-oo-oo!" I looked around for Diane Fossey and her telephoto lens to capture this remarkable mating ritual! But, alas, she was no where to be found so I journal it here for all of you in internetland to marvel at with me...

Sleep does the body good

8:20pm. Yep, Mommy went to bed last night at 8:20pm. I shut off the ringer on the phone, turned on the white noise machine, closed my eyes and next thing I know it is 6:20am. I guess those 5am-ers with no opportunity for a nap mid-day wreaked enough havoc on my tired body. Today I feel good. Today is going to be a good day!

Not that yesterday wasn't a good day. It was! We ran to the Topanga mall to pick up our Sears pictures. I have to admit - I worked as a professional photographer for about 6 years here in LA, and always snubbed my nose at these cheesy portrait studios - but they did a great job! And here for all the world to see - I am eating crow and taking back my snubbings. The family portrait is perfect, the individuals of the kids are fun, and the re-make shot of Mommy, Daddy and baby Ben looks exactly like the one we did with Emma at that age. I couldn't be happier. Grandparents, yours are already in the mail 'cuz I am OCD like that.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Topanga mall. They have an awesome carousal but it is expensive to ride ($3 a pop!). The play area is sizable with lots of activities to wear Emma out, but it seems like every time we come home from there she has a snot nose within days. The Target is inside the mall which makes running errands easy because I can get it all done without transferring the kids in and out of the car, but the Target is right next to the carousal - i.e. Emma says about 50 times while shopping, "Emma wanna play, Mama! PLEEEEEEASE!"

Yesterday's excursion was no different. Even though I strategically parked on the 2nd level of Target's parking (play area on the 1st), she knows. She just knows! She is at that age where she remembers EVERYTHING! I got them into the double stroller and through Target to the main mall, I took the long way around to Sears to avoid the carousal but she got a glimpse of it anyways. The whole time we were trucking through the mall - and I mean trucking, Emma kept saying, "Go faster, Mama!" - I actually broke a sweat! she also kept saying, "Emma go play. Emma wanna play. Make new friends, Mama. Let's go!" Relentless!

We picked up our pics froms Sear and hightailed it back to Target. I convinced her to let me get my Target shopping done first - didn't stop her from yammering on and on about playing - UNTIL, dum dum dummmmmm, I picked up a pack of those bathtub foam letters that my friend Afton recommended (Evie's mama) and handed them to Emma to hold. She was mesmorized by the colors and the numbers and the letters. She wanted to open them right there but she knows she can't and kept saying, "Gotta pay for 'em, Mama, gotta pay for 'em." (My patented line at the supermarket...) I finished up my shopping, went through the cashier line, got the kids in the car and home without having to stop at the play area! I know, I am a horrible Mom! But she never knew. Those darn $5.99 bath toys rescued me from the swine flu infested play area! Hooray!

Now in defense of my quick escape, I had been planning to be out the door by 9:30 and off to the mall. Daddy took off at 9:25am - with Ben's carseat in his car! I went to put the kids in the car and screamed, "AAaaaaaAAAAaaaaah!" knowing he was headed to Burbank for an appointment. Luckily it was a quickie and he was home by 11:00. So by the time we got to the mall and completed the errands, it was lunch time and I really just wanted to get home and avoid the whole hunger pangs cries from 2 kids 2 and under. See, I am not so evil. ...right?

I made up for it all with a very long walk around the neighborhood in the wagon before dinner. I had a beef stew cooking in the crock pot and no dinner to make, so while the sun was setting we walked to the post office and back. It was crisp and cool and I wrapped the kids up in a blanket. I had flashbacks to my youth on the East Coast and realized that I just may have to get these kids in some snow very soon. Good times.

Poltergeist

As Emma is a pretty cute kid (that dang long blond hair!), we often call her "beautiful." As I don't want my kid to have any body conscious issues when she grows older, I try my best to balance that out with "smart" and "helpful" and "strong" and other power words, but out in public she hears "beautiful" the most.

Today as we were getting dressed she looked in the mirror and said, "Emma's beautiful girl, Mama."

Now, to be fair, she is on a "wear her Sunday best" pretty dresses every day kick and she does look pretty darn cute in them (Thanks, Abuelita!). I have no problem with her wearing them to play because she is just going to outgrow them soon enough, so why not get her (well, Abuelita's) money's worth!

Ben woke up at 6am this morning, then took 3 thirty minute cat naps throughout the day. We are putting it out there in the Universe for a 7am-er tomorrow. Please?

Jock itch. My 9 month old has jock itch. (See previous post.) Tomorrow I will go to Target and get some Lotrimen AF and get him all fixed up. I was on the right track with the yeast infection. He just needs a bit stronger cream to clear it up.

Finally, we were in the car for about 4 hours this morning, stopping only to get out for a quick lunch break. I feared all kinds of drama from the backseat, but Ben was quiet as a mouse and Emma watched Nemo and a Baby Einstein on her dvd player and never complained. Ben was cracking us up at lunch though. He couldn't get enough food and was squealing like an orangutan with his mouth all "O" shaped and his tongue hanging out.

As I write this post, I am having a Poltergeist moment. I keep hearing, "Hello!" about every 30 seconds. It is faint and I thought it was someone talking outside. I just now realized it is coming from inside my home. From the toy cabinet in my living room to be exact. The little "laptop" that Emma has greets you with "Hello" when you turn it on. I am guessing the battery is going dead but I am too afraid to open the cabinet for fear of getting sucked into some vortex and then finding out my home was built on a old Indian burial ground... Or more likely an old cemetery for orange picking migrant workers. Daddy, HELP!

Dat's MINE!

So the time change has thrown us for a bit of a loop, but the good news is that I have been able to shift Emma's nap to about 45 min earlier, so she is now going to bed by 8pm. By 7:45, we are diving into a pile of books and wrapping them up by 8. She doesn't necessarily fall asleep right away, but she has been complaining less and less about having to go to bed.

Ben woke up at 5 am Sunday and Monday, but this morning he slept until 7. Let's hope his body has it all figured out now.

Speaking of his body, poor little dude has some painful looking diaper rash. The triple butt paste didn't do a darn thing so I thought maybe it was a yeast infection. I used the yeast cream and it cleared up, but the minute I stop using it, it flaired up again. I ran out of the normal size 4 diapers he ordinarily wears and decided to try a different brand. They seem to not irritate him but I was also using the yeast cream at the same time so I really don't know if they made a difference. Daddy did change his diaper this afternoon and used an old diaper from the diaper bag. By 4pm I noticed he was tugging at his onesie and went to change him. He was fire red in the privates and screaming like he was on fire as I cleaned him up. I put the new diapers on him and loaded him up with yeast cream, he seems fine since. I am guessing those old diapers have something to do with it - I'll let you know!

Emma had a giant adult size and more poopy on the potty yesterday. Sometime I wonder how a 32 lb little girl can produce that much doo doo. TMI?

Emma's bossy little girl made another appearance today. This time she screamed at Ben, "No, Ben, don't touch it. Dat's mine!" I heard a smack smack smack and came into the room to see her grabbing his hand and smacking it. Needless to say, she sat in time out for a minute as we discussed who the boss lady was around this joint. I don't think she got it at all. Basically Ben is smaller, so she is the boss of him. Not for long, little lady, not for long. Remember, he is only 10 pounds lighter than you and he will be walking soon. He has started furniture surfing and I can only imagine he will be taking his first steps soon.

Trick or Treat!

Aaaaah, yes, it is 6:24am and I am writing. I have been up for over an hour. Not by choice, my arch nemesis "Daylight Savings Time" went into hybernation last night which means a change in sleep patterns for the kiddos. As expected, Ben was up at 5:15 - standing in his crib (his new trick, problem is, he gets stuck there as he hasn't figured out how to sit down) yelling for, "Ma ma ma ma ma maaaaa!" Why can't he yell, "Da da da da da daaaaa!" so I am the one who gets to relax in bed for a while longer? Good news is, now that public enemy number one is gone for six months, there is a chance I can get Emzilla to bed earlier! Wish us luck!

Trick or Treating was a blast last night. Our neighbors invited us to go with them but we were still eating dinner when they knocked at the door so we had to play catch up. We quickly dressed Emma in her Tinkerbell costume, tossed on some shoes and ran to the corner to catch them. No luck, they were no where in sight and we weren't sure if they turned left or right! So we started door knocking on our own. Emma did awesome for the first 4 houses - it went something like this:

"Come on, girlie, you gotta knock on the door and say, 'Trick or Treat!'"
She walked up the sidewalks to each house spending an extraordinary amount of time in each yard admiring the decorations (I am sure this will be the last year for that!), "Oooh, look Mama, a pumpkin patch!" (one pumpkin) "Dats scary! Dat ghost! Whats dis?" "That's a spider." "Spider! More pumpkin patch!" It took about 3 minutes at every doorstep to get her to climb the stairs and actually knock at the screen doors. "Trick or Treat!" She would get her candy, say thank you and then try to go inside the people's homes! "No, bugs, we gotta go to the next house." "No, Mama, Emma go inside!" (But she puts the stress on the wrong syllable so it sounds really cute - go INside.)

We caught up with our neighbor buddies back at their house and we walked the rest of the block with them. By that point Emma was more interested in holding the pumpkin flashlight that one of the Mom's had and shining it all over the neighborhood than she was at more door knocking, so I ended up carrying her candy and was saying the trick or treat and the thank you to the givers so we called it quits. We were probably out for about 25 minutes total... We came back to the house and viewed the loot - just like her Daddy, she went right for the chocolate! We let her chow, tossed her in the tub and she actually went to bed without a fuss.

I didn't get a picture of her in costume last night, but here is a pic of her and her best buddy Evie at the church:

Gift of the Gab

Tonight I fell in love with my daughter all over again. It's not that I haven't loved her all along, its just that these days, well, she can be a giant needy pain in the butt and Ben, well Benny, is a smiling, happy, fun, sweet, sweet, little mama's boy whom I can't get enough of.

But tonight - tonight it was Emma's turn to shine. We went to a pumpkin carving party at my oldest friend in LA's house. He has a daughter who is turning 4 in December (she's the one we get the clothes from!) and they had invited a bunch of families over to carve. We got there around 7pm, Ben's bed time. He had some trouble falling asleep with all the commotion so the other Mommy's kept jumping in to try their patented sleep moves. Finally I had to get the car seat out of the car and wrap him up tight in a toasty blanket and my buddy, Renee rocked him to sleep.

The whole 45 minutes this was going on I could see Emma out in the backyard coloring on the dry erase board, then erasing it, then coloring it, then erasing it, then coloring it, then erasing it. I would say that is something we should probably request for Christmas from Santa Clause, but there is absolutely no room in my house for it. (PS, hey Santa, I hear IKEA has the whole kit and kaboodle for $15!)

I went out to color with her and immediately got a contact high from the smell of the markers. How she was still functioning after playing with them for 45 minutes is beyond my comprehension. I encouraged her to come inside to warm up and she said, "Mama, Emma have pizza?" We got her a slice and she housed it in about 5 seconds, then ate some soy beans, a giant handful of goldfish and a bunch of chips. Yes, she had already eaten dinner - pork chops and broccoli - but apparently the high of the markers gave her the munchies...

We then played with some toys while I caught up with a friend I haven't seen in over 7 years. She and I are living in some kind of parallel universe - both of us married South American men, both hold licenses in lucrative industries but choose to rarely put them to use - instead are blessed to be able to be stay at home moms. She lives about 10 blocks from my house and she has a son one month older than Emma. Too funny! We exchanged numbers and will hopefully start meeting up at the park for a playdate soon.

Have you ever seen that car commercial where the Dad puts his preschooler-ish daughter into the car, buckles her in, closes the door and walks around the car to the driver's seat and gets in - the whole time the little girl is yammering on about her day and the dad is just smiling ear to ear. You know which one I am talking about? That was me tonight. On the way home in the car Emma dominated the conversation from the back seat. It went something like this, "That was fun playing with Sierra, Mommy." (She never actually played with Sierra, just used her toys!) "Emma go home now. Benny's tired. Benny's gots to take a nap. Not Emma. Emma not tired. Emma go home, watch the puppy movie, Mama. Dalmation movie. There's Pongo, Perdita, and all the puppies. Oh, and Cruella Deville. She bad lady, Mama. Emma sad." (Insert fake cry.) "Emma watch the movie and Emma get happy! Emma happy, Mama!" Seriously, she went on and on - it was so awesome. I rarely interjected and she kept me entertained the entire ride home.

Pumpkin patch

Actual conversation I just had while putting Emma to bed:

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"
"Ummmm, ride the zebra."
"Ride the zebra? Where do you want to do that?"
"At the zoo, Mommy!" (in an exasperated voice as if to say, Duh, lady!)
"Okay, maybe we can go to the zoo."
"Good idea, Mommy. Go zoo with Evie!" Then she gets all sad, "Evie at daycare."
"That's okay, we will see Evie on Sunday!" in my best chipper voice.
"Porter in daycare, too."
"No, Porter is at home with his new baby brother."
"Baby brother name, Russell."
"That's right! His new baby brother's name is Russell."
"Mommy, Scott go home." (He is my friend from over 20 years ago that got in touch with me via facebook and we all met up at the zoo 2 weeks ago for a reunion.)
"Yep, Scott had to go home."
"Okay, Mommy, go zoo and make new friends."

The memory on this kid never ceases to amaze me! She constantly recalls days from her past and misses her playdate buddies desperately. I love her stream of conscious thinking, too!

We carved our Halloween pumpkin over the weekend while Gramma Lou was here. We then attempted to get a nice family portrait by said pumpkin but it was impossible to get a photo with both kids looking into the camera... Sound familiar? The best one of the bunch:



Emma kept calling the carved pumpkin a "pumpkin patch." Ha!

I also love this one of Benny digging his hand into the guts of 'ole Jacky:

Cat in heat

It has been an interesting past few days around this joint. Gramma Lou is visiting so I get to go out into the real world sans children. It is always a strange feeling to drive in my car and listen to adult music or to run an errand and not have to get 2 kiddies in and out and back into the car again. Friday night I even went out for sushi with Auntie Cole. Imagine that, me - out on a Friday night!

Well, that must have not been right with the Universe because I woke up at 3:30am with stomach cramps and nausea. Ben woke up soon after and decided it was playtime and not sleep time. So there he and I were sitting on the floor in the living room when the nausea took a turn for the worst. I sprinted to the bathroom and hurled my guts out followed by Ben who was in curious George mode. As I was puking, he was trying to climb into my lap and grab onto the toilet. In an awesome mothering moment, I scooped him up and held him tight as I finished emptying my stomach of whatever bad piece of sushi that wasn't agreeing with me! Good times!

We went back out into the living room and I turned on my iTunes visualizer with the Baby Einstein Classic Lullaby CD and sat Ben on my lap to relax and zone out. He stared mezmorized at the screen and slowly nodded off on my chest. When the final song came on around 5:30am he was finally good and sleepy so I placed him in the playpen and went back to bed. As I laid down another wave up nausea hit and I was back in the bathroom. Thankfully the noise didn't wake him this time and I was able to go back to sleep. I woke up Saturday morning feeling perfectly fine - how one's body reacts to food poisoning is a wondrous thing! Find the culprit, get it out of the body before the body digests it. Ahhhhh, nature.

Speaking of the body, Emma has this weird cough that only makes an appearance about 3 hours after she has gone to bed. She will wake with a seal-like bark, have a good long coughing session, then go back to sleep for the rest of the night. She is not sick, shows no signs of the croup (i.e. seal-like bark) and does not cough during the day. I am guessing she has some kind of allergen in her room but can't imagine what as her sheets get washed weekly with the same detergent I have been using for 3 years now, there is no sign of mold in her room and we vacuum almost daily to keep up with the shedding dogs. I can only think it may be her humidifier which I will bleach out today and replace the air filter and see if that is it...?

We have also decided that Ben - who talks nonstop now - sounds like a cat in heat. This is a typical Benny conversation, "AaaaaaOooooo, aaaablaaaaaah, oooowwwwwwowowowowowo." He also LOVES the word, "Wow!" and uses it often as in, "Wow wow wow wow!"

Lastly, even though one of my dearest friends is a professional photographer and has always done my family portraits, I decided the other day to give the 'ole Sears portrait studio a try, knowing it would probably be a nightmare as neither Emma nor Ben will sit still for longer than 3 seconds at a time, and I didn't want to waste Z's time. It was quite a challenge for the photographer - who certainly earned her minimum wage that we know corporate America is only paying. Believe it or not, we got great shots of each kid individually, but couldn't pull off a decent family shot as expected, and didn't even get a chance to shoot the 2 kids together because neither would cooperate and sit still! Ha! I'll attempt to post them when they come in.

the Disciplinee becomes the Disciplinarian

29-21.4-19.5

No, those are not Barbie's measurements. They are my strapping young man-baby, Ben's! He had his 9 month well visit this morning, and after charming the front desk ladies and the nurse as per usual, he had his weigh in before the pediatrician came in to check him out - 29 inches long and 21 lbs 4 ozs (or the equivalent of a 12 months old). His giant Mommy and Daddy-like noggin measured in at 19.5. What can I say, we Eimers-Batter have huge brains.

While Ben was sleeping off his hangover from the vaccinations he received this morning, Emma and I were in the backyard cleaning up all the outside toys that got abused in last weeks rain. One such toy was the water table she got from Grandma and Grandpa. After I scrubbed it clean I filled it for her to play with while I went about cleaning the rest of the toys. I often glanced over at her enjoying seeing her having a good time splashing around and enjoying the fountain and the boats. My final glance found our favorite daughter enjoying her water table a bit more than I normally would expect:



Yep. Fully clothed. She climbed right into it! And check out that Sassy look on her face!

As I may have mentioned, we are now taking a more active roll in disciplining Emzilla when she rears her ugly head. At 27 months, it is finally obvious that she understands there will be consequences when she misbehaves. Does this stop her from misbehaving? Not at all - she is only two! But what is has done you should be able to decipher from the following conversation:

(Ben and Emma are playing on the floor in the living room. Mommy is in the kitchen 10 feet away - she hears it all through the doorway.)

Crash! Blocks come tumbling down.
Emma in the sternest deepest daddy voice ever: "Ben! NO! NOOOO! That Emma's. Not Ben's. You want time-out? You say sorry! NOW!"
Ben: "Yah blah blah gurgle gurgle wa."
Emma: "Ben! You go time out! Go!"

Mommy then stepped in to pick up Ben before Emma got the bright idea of giving him a spanking. I gave her the 'ole, "Excuse me, you don't talk to Benny like that." while laughing uncontrollably on the inside.

Abracadabra

Unfortunately there is no way to capture the intonation of Emzilla's language skills here in our quoted conversations. The girl is 27 months old and comprehends and conveys a message so clearly. Yesterday when we were webcamming with Gramma Lou, she wanted to do something different, so she kept saying, "Good bye, Gramma Lou, see you later!" in the sweetest I'm casting you aside voice ever. Tonight when my best friend, "Auntie Cole" was over, Emma kept willing her to leave with, "Auntie Cole, you gotta go find Erin." No blatent 'please, leave,' just a casual hint that you should be doing something else, not just hanging out with Mommy watching football/baseball.

I'm excited to report that I have introduced her to her newest obsession, 101 Dalmations - or as she likes to call it, "The doggy movie." The "animal moobies" have been forgotten about for now, and she snuck in 2 viewings of that Disney classic... so far... I'm sure that number will double by this time tomorrow!

Ben has a new obsession, too. BITING ME! This kid has gotten 4 solid chompers with 2 more tops making their way in. He gets me in the least expected spots - always the meaty bits when you are not ready for it. Hopefully this is a new and SHORT phase that he is going through! He is also not just getting around fast but tonight we witnessed him doing the 'downward dog' - which for you unyoga peeps, is when your hands and feet are on the ground and your legs are stretched out and your butt is in the air. We thought he was going to stand up from this position - unbelievable!

The unveiling of the homemade Tinkerbell costume went fairly well on Saturday night at our ward Halloween party. She refused to put the costume on until we arrived at our destination, and then had a blast running around the gym with all the other kids saying, "Abra ca dabra!" with her magic wand. I am not sure if I have ever heard Tink utter abra ca dabra - but that was the line of the night. I couldn't get a decent pic of her because she wouldn't stand still, but I will try again this week when she seems to be in a relaxing mood. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, I just made myself laugh out loud...

Potty training 101

Today was our first day of big girl panties. VERY EXCITING! I'll give you the play by play.

8:15am wake up with extremely hearty pee pee diaper, clean up, get dressed, put on big girl panties
9:00am potty check, still dry, but no pee pee on potty
9:20am potty check, still dry, but no pee pee on potty
9:45am pee pee in panties while playing on floor with Ben in the hallway, clean up, change clothes
10:05am potty check, still dry, but no pee pee on potty
10:30am potty check, still dry, but no pee pee on potty
10:55am pee pee in panties while sitting on leather couch reading a book, clean up, change clothes
11:25am potty check, still dry, but no pee pee on potty
11:50am pee pee in panties while playing with Ben on living room floor

At this point she said to me, "Mommy, get diaper on?"
"You know what, Emma, that's a great idea."

We will try again on Saturday (tomorrow we are on the road all day...). One thing I did find was that she doesn't do well with sitting on the little potty - no patience - but when she is on the adapter ring on the adult toilet she is more apt to sit for a longer period of time.

Now that Ben is on the move and can go from his belly to sitting on his own as well as pull himself up onto his knees, I never know what position I will find him - or where for that matter! Today I plopped him in his crib for a nap and later had to sneak into the room to grab fresh clothes for Emma. He was sleeping sitting up, leaning forward on his blanket. Talk about flexible!

Go to sleep, wittle Emma

Emma has been screaming in bed for over an hour. She will not go to sleep. I cannot believe Ben has not woken up as their beds are right next to each other. I just caught her singing to herself between screams, "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep wittle Emma. Close your eyes, say goodnight, go to sleep wittle Emma."

I have never in my life sang that song to her. I am going to guess this might be a daddy trick - but I don't know! It was so freaking cute that it took every ounce of discipline I had to not go into the room and give her a big hug.

Now if only it worked and she fell asleep. She is at 75 minutes of crying it out with no lull in sight.


ps: that is totally a daddy trick

A new idea for Apple

It has rained here in LA for the past 48 hours - thank you Mother Nature! Rain is a rare occurrence in Autumn, or year round for that matter. We were stuck inside but survived with a bit more tv than normal, lots of coloring, and lots of 'city' building with our blocks, and farm, and house, and zoo, and weeble wobble tree house (all thoroughly enjoyed as recycled toys - i.e. hand-me-downs from friends who have purged their toy rooms). Emma learned a new phrase today and used it often, "It's raining cats and dogs, Mommy!"

Speaking of hand-me-downs, as I have mentioned before, I have yet to purchase any clothing for my children as I have a great circle of family who have purchased lots of items as well as some friends who have given me their used clothes. Emma in particular has been using our friend Zarek's daughter's clothes from day 1! Well Sierra is turning 4 in December and Emma is 27 months. They currently wear about the same size! Needless to say her hand-me-downs are no longer going to work out for us and I just may have to go out and buy some clothes.

One such item that I did purchase was 2 packages of "big girl panties" in hopes of beginning potty training. Today Emma found a pack, opened them, and proceeded to put on all five pairs that were in the pack. I think this may be a sign that she is ready to start potty training. SEE VIDEO:




Then this evening on our walk after dinner after it stopped raining, she refused to go outside unless she could carry the package with her. She kept wanting to wear the panties, so I told her that tomorrow after she wakes up we will start wearing the big girl panties. She was very excited! I then asked her, "Emma, if you wear big girl panties, do you go pee pee on the potty or pee pee in the panties?" She answered without hesitation, "Go pee pee in panties, Mommy." I just may be in trouble. Good thing for leather couches and hardwood floors!

On to Benvolio, my little guy is busting in two more teeth on the top. That gives us a grand total of 4 top and two bottom - which seems strange to me, but whatever makes his little body happy makes me happy! He is going to need those teeth to chew on the mud chunks that the dumb dogs keep bringing in from outside anyway. "Whaaaaat?" you ask. Yes, that has been the bane of my day, cleaning up after the dogs when they come back inside from doing their business in the rain - chunks of mud everywhere. I thought I had them all, but Mr. Clean would find the ones that were hidden and eat 'em up. At one point his face looked like he had gotten into chocolate - YUCKO!

I leave you with the funny line of the day:

"Hey, Mommy, watch the animal moobie on the PU?"
"Watch it where?"
"On the PU, Mommy!"
"The PU, what are you talking about?"
"The PU, right dere, on the couch, the PU."
She was pointing to my laptop. (Daddy and I often refer to the computer as the "'puter". I think that is what she was mixing up.)
"Oh, you mean the computer?"
"Yeah, Mommy. Watch the animal moobie on the complaydoh."
"You got it, kiddo, we will watch it on the complaydoh."

Like father, like son

We met Daddy out in the real world for lunch today at the Sharkey's in Calabassas. Since I know how rough it can be eating out with two kids 2 and under, I called in our order so it was waiting for us when we arrived. All we had to do is find a place to sit down and then chow! Ben was slightly impatient as I was opening up his lunch pack. He wasn't crying or fussing per se, just making very loud squeals as if to say, "Feed me, Seymore!" Once again, I think his cutey pie-ness got him out of the dog house, as he was a bit annoying to our fellow lunchers until they got a look at him, then they were all, "Aww, he's so cute." "Look, poor thing is hungry." and the like.

Afterwards we had to run by the evil Target to grab some lightbulbs. I was going to let Emma play in the play area in the mall connected to Target until I realized she squeezed an entire juice box of apple juice out on herself and her car seat - it / she was soaked and sticky and stinky. I need to figure out how to wash the carseat cover so my car doesn't get infested with ants or mold as the days move on! We were in and out of Target within 15 minutes and for under $35 (yes, I got suckered into more than just lightbulbs - darn evil Target).

Emma had a blast with "Auntie Coles" this evening watching Monday Night Football. And when I say 'watching' I mean not paying attention at all and constantly vying for Auntie Cole's attention with talk of 'animal moobies' and 'evie' and 'porter' and 'sleepovers'. Then eating off Auntie Cole's plate after deciding hers wasn't that interesting. Poor Ben had a rough night with terrible gas pain that left him screaming and crying giant warm tears. When I picked him up and bounced him, he would fart like a dad-man in my hands - poor guy. He finally settled down after 2 more ounces in his bottle and I haven't heard from him since. Sleep well, sweet child of mine.

On a silly note, this morning Emma hurt her finger doing something and she came over to me fake crying. I said, "Let me look at the boo boo. Oh, wow, this is going to need a Mommy kiss to make it better." I gave her finger a smooch and said, "All better!" to which she replied, "Mommy a good kisser!"