birfday party fun

We had tons of fun at Detmer Farms again yesterday for a 5 year old friend of ours birthday party. They had lots of those air jumpy bouncers and tons of wooden trains to crawl all over and those battery powered jeeps for the kids to drive. Since we were last there 2 months ago I feel the need to report that Emma's driving skills have not improved at all. In fact at one point she was attempting to steer the car using the jeep's rollbar and not the actual steering wheel. Huh?

Ben wanted ever so desperately to enter this one particular bouncer but it had some evil looking clown's on the inside that scared the crap out of him. He kept going up to the bouncer and peeking in, then running away in terror, only to repeat the act once again 30 seconds later hoping the clowns had moved on. He may just be scarred for life...

We took the smelliest diesel engine tractor hay ride near the end of the party. Emma was bored out of her mind and kept asking, "Where are we going?" We are just riding around the farm. "But why?" Why, indeed, little lady...

I'll post some pics when I return from the longest commute ever. xoxo

Kidding!

Proof of my seamstress skills, minus the sewing machine and only using the shears:


Our fabulous sleeping beauty in her warm and toasty pajamas minus the feet. She is just so darn sweet and adorable - when she is sleeping...

Anticipation

As per usual, most days I have nothing specific planned to do. I wake up, get a feel for the weather and make decisions from there. On the occasion I have a playdate planned a few days in advance, I rarely tell Emma because I never hear the end of it. Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? over and over. Yesterday I made the mistake of telling her that her friend, Ellie, was having a birthday party tomorrow. That was yesterday - two whole days before the party. And let's face it - Emma is a party girl. All day yesterday and all day today it was, "Let's go to Ellie's birfday party, Mom," or " MOM, WHEN WE GONNA GO TO ELLIE'S HOUSE FOR THE BIRFDAY PARTY AND EAT CAKE AND PLAY WIT ALL DE KIDS?" I though I could keep her at bay today with the whole trip to the toy department to purchase the present and go home and wrap the present, but we were done with all that by 11am and still had another 8 hours of questioning whether I got the date and time and location of the party correct. The only good thing is I seemed to have been able to use it to keep her in bed tonight. Fingers crossed! She ate every last bit of her dinner with no complaints, too - which is generally the case, she is a GREAT eater - but not even a struggle to get her to drink all of her milk. We just may need more birthday party invites.

Ben... what can I say, my smiling bundle of joy is so much FUN - until dinnertime, or lunchtime for that matter. The kid simply will not eat. He is now down to an egg and a dry waffle for breakfast (sometimes a pancake). Then for the rest of the day he may eat steak, chicken sausage, pasta and bananas. That is about it. He will only eat about 4 or 5 bites of rice before he starts spitting it and throwing it, and the tofu that he once LOVED, he will only eats 4 or 5 cubes before he starts playing with it and smooshing it in his hair. He is getting crazy skinny, but he still drinks about 18 ounces of whole milk daily so I am not going to worry too much. I am just going to be more annoyed than anything at the mess he makes. Little turkey...

Genetics?

Genetics are a funny thing. When I was a kid I HATED feetie pajamas. My Mom always had to cut the feet out of them or I could not sleep. To this day I still cannot wear socks to bed or I feel claustrophobic. Well guess who excitedly put on her new footy PJs from Abuelita tonight then immediately freaked out because of the feet. 'Ole Emsadoo, that's who. So, out came the shears and OFF WITH THE FEET. The tears stopped instantly and she snuggled into bed. Oi.

Problem is, she didn't stay in bed. She has been 'go to sleep' challenged the past few weeks. Every night we put her to bed praying that just this once it will be easy. No such luck. Even as I write this she is yelling at me from her bed... She makes up every excuse in the book to stay up. She has to pee. She has to poop. She needs her baby monkey. She wants a cheesestick. She needs some juice. The monsters are going to get her. She is sooooo afraid and her room is soooo scary. Just when you feel like you have won the battle and she is asleep, she comes out for something else. Ben? He just flops around in his crib and takes it all in - nary a sound from his pretty little head.

Today was Emma's preschool Halloween party. It is always a kick to see so many little kiddos dressed for the occasion. Emma wanted to be - of course - Sleeping Beauty, so we were able to score yet one more occasion for her fancy dress. Hooray! Here are a few shots of her and the kids at school.

I love how Sheriff Woody is hugging on our little princess in the last pic.

If you recall, poor Benny has been wearing the same sandals day in and day out for six months now. The are the kind that velcro in 3 different spots and grow ever so awesomely with a kid's feet. Best part about them is they were barely used hand-me-downs. As his toes were curling out and over the edge of the shoe I figured it time to purchase him a pair for winter. But I misjudged the size and got him one size too big - no problem, he will grow into them. But he looks so silly in them, almost like they are clown shoes. And, when he walks he has a deliberate high step - almost like he knows they are too big and he is trying not to trip. Check out his tootsies in the pic on the right (click on the pic to enlarge it). Luckily, after lunch a box was delivered from Abuelita - or should I start calling her, "Abshoelita" as she always saves the day when it comes to our children's footwear. In the box were 2 pairs of shoes in the proper size for Ben. SWEET! And, thanks, Abuelita!

All you need us love.

Today was rainy and weird. We were stuck inside all day and if it weren't for an unexpected drop by of a friend this afternoon to entertain me and my children and to take our minds off the fact that we were stuck inside all day, I may have jammed a fork through my eyeball.

But once again, the world was made a better place by the quick witted articulation of my comedian daughter:

Picture this, Daddy had just walked in the door and saw me in a frazzled state of disarray. The kids were bathed, Ben was in his pjs, Emma had a jammie top on but was naked from the waste down. She was jumping all over the couch in her usual "you can't catch me" so I could finish getting her dressed. I was frustrated and said, "I am so tired. WHY AM I SO TIRED? You kids!! That is why I am so tired!!"

Then daughter with perfect timing said, "No, Mommy, that is why you are so happy."

Yes, daughter, YES. You are absolutely correct and I would not EVER change a minute of it.

Halloween prep

On Saturday our village had their first annual "Fall Festival Spooktacular". It was a gorgeous day so we headed into port with Gramma Lou in tow and walked around the town. There were some silly events like a dog costume parade that we got a kick out of, and the usual bobbing for apples and pie eating contest. We did not participate in those two but the pies sure looked yummy... The town was decorated with scarecrows on every light pole - very festive and a fun afternoon. (As you can see my Joovy Caboose stroller is still getting a good workout and Ben still hasn't let go of that dang cheeky engine.)





Benjamin spends a good deal of time sitting right here when we play outside. He has moved into the toy truck and bulldozer stage. This particular dozer belongs to Henry and Ben always wants to play with it. Santa will need to add one to his list for Benny! What is funny though, is Ben will push the dirt with the dozer, then pick up the dozer in one hand, grab a handful of dirt with his other hand and put it in the plow. Then he will dump the plow OVER HIS HEAD. Wait, did I say funny? It is a guarantee that Ben needs a bath whenever he is done playing with the bulldozer...

We carved pumpkins this weekend as the weather has been cool and they should survive the week up to Halloween. It was such an awesome afternoon weatherwise, that we all congregated out front of our building at the Tinkerbell table for the yearly carving fun. Ben wasn't too interested. He was more concerned about figuring out how to set the poor doggies free as I needed to tie them up to the bike rack so they wouldn't run out into the street. Emma did a great job pulling the guts out of the pumpkin, but as you can see in the first pic - she wasn't so sure about it at first.

Cold and cranky

Today was a challenge. It is 8pm on a Friday and I will probably turn in for the night as soon as I post this.

We had one of those mornings around here. The 3 year old woke up all sunshine and rainbows, but turned into a walking mass of tears and whines and exhausting behavior about three hours later. Why? Only the universe knows. We were headed out the door to meet our neighbor buddies at another new park that I had seen last week. It had an awesome looking playground and a walking path around the park where I was planning to get in a little exercise pushing the stroller. We arrived at the park in good spirits, but as soon as I opened the doors of the minivan, that u-g-l-y switch flipped in Emma's head and she freaked out. It started with, "I DON'T WANNA WEAR MY JACKET!" Escalated to "IT'S FREEZING OUT! I DON'T WANNA PLAY HERE!" and ended with her screaming as though she was being beaten, "I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA LAY IN MY BED WITH MY DEEIT!" Because she was so inconsolable, Benny got sad and he started crying. I gave up after about 7 minutes of convincing her that Henry was going to be here any minute now - she simply did not want to be at that park and she wasn't afraid to voice that opinion to everyone within earshot.

All the screaming exhausted me so we simply went home and spent the morning reading books.

If both kids hadn't behaved so well last week in the dreary cold every day we were out, I would have blamed it on the cold and windy weather this morning. The only difference was the sun was shining today - I think that threw Emma off. The sun should equal warmth to her! I spent a great deal of time this afternoon explaining to her that the warm sunshine was going to go away for a while and that the cold sunshine was here to stay. She asked me if it was going to get "more colder" when the snow came and I told her, "Yes, it would." I watched her freckled nose crinkle as she contemplated this new information, not sure if her excitement for the snow was going to help her through the frigid days...

Fingers crossed it was just one of those days.

(P.S.) Daddy took the best video of Ben laughing at himself going down the slide from yesterday's post. He must have watched the clip at least 15 times, cracking up at himself sliding and falling every time. Our son has the most infectious laugh - he made the morning go far far away. I will post this new video as soon as I upload it.

Field Trip!!

Emma's preschool had their first field trip today to a pumpkin patch about 40 minutes from our house. I had to drop her off at the patch and then pick her up there 2 hours later so it made no sense for me to leave and come back, the other parents felt the same, so we all just hung out jibberjabbering and chasing the siblings of the class while the kids played the morning away.

It was a heap of fun, albeit cold and windy. The place was called Windy Acres Farm (no joke) and had a huge play area, a giant corn maze, and a hay ride out into the far fields to pick pumpkins. I did everything I could to avoid the giant corn maze - my kids would have split up into different directions and we would have had to call in a chopper to rescue them. Emma seemingly enjoyed the hay ride with the kids to get her cute little pumpkin but she couldn't wait to get back to the playground when the ride was over. Ben was NONSTOP cuteness the entire time we were there. Poor kiddo has a hearty cold right now, but that did not slow him down one bit. He was running and jumping and sliding and falling and smashing and crashing like his usual rough and tumble self with nary a tear in sight. Case in point: watch this short video. But be forewarned, don't be drinking anything while watching it as you just may snarf liquid all over your computer screen.



You will need to watch it a few times to get all the nuances, but our favorite part is the butt grab adjustment as he runs back for more!

Both kids went to sleep without a peep tonight, so the fresh air once again did it's job and tuckered my little darlings out...

3 hours at the parks today

Emma has a new "ism" that I simply do not like. Whenever we are in the car listening to her toddler sing along music and I start to sing along, she SCREAMS, "MOM, BE QUIET! I GOTTA SING IT, NOT YOU!!!" How dare she? How double dog dare she? I was 9 months pregnant with her recording vocals for my 3rd CD - she KNOWS I am am singer, she heard it from the womb. Cheeky little...

We have been spending a fair amount of time at a new park about a 15 minute drive from us. It is over near Target and FABULOUS so I try to plan my errands around spending at least an hour there. Yes, it is that good - MAMA can actually enjoy herself for an hour at this spot!! It has one of those play areas reminiscent of Lake Balboa - but on a much grander scale, and it has the rubber squishy ground. A huge plus in my book - Ben is not eating sand or wood chips! There is so much to do on this piece of equipment that the kids are occupied the whole time and not clamoring for my attention. I love my kids, I REALLY DO, but sometimes Mommy just wants to quietly follow behind and breathe the fresh air, you know? This place is SO GOOD for that! Here is a blurry cell phone pic of some of the fun:


I am thinking I may need to curb Emma's viewing of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the morning before school. When she gets upset these days, she yells, "Aw, NUTS!" or she will say, "Hey, what's the big idea!" Both favored sentences from that wacky Donald the Duck...

Zombie

Tuesday is officially renamed red-eye zombie day. Daddy dropped Emma off at school this morning and I stayed home with Benny. He went right to work from the school and Benny and I in a desperate parenting moment watched a two hour marathon of Handy Manny - well Benny watched and played and watched and played, I watched and snoozed and watched and snoozed. I did make it up to him this afternoon by taking him solo to Rocketship park to play. Emma was supposed to come with us, but she wasn't listening. I told her 5 times to get her shoes and sweater on and she simply ignored me, so I gave Daddy the nod and left without her. Ben and I played and played and about 30 minutes later I got a phone call from Daddy. I could hear Emma whining in the background. She had JUST realized I left without her and was majorly P.O.'d. We tried to use it as a teaching lesson that she needed to listen more, but she was so darned upset that the lesson was missed and I in my exhaustion ended up promising I would take her there tomorrow. Oi.

Santa Ana-nots

It was cold again today and very windy - gusting up to 33mph on a regular basis. As per usual, I wanted to get the kids outside for some fresh air (read: Mommy wanted some fresh air) so we put on jackets and headed down to Rocketship park thinking that there would be some families there to play with - it being Saturday and all. Well, for the 2nd cold and windy day in a row, we Californians were the only ones outside playing. What is a matter with New York parents? Don't they know the value of fresh air on tiring your kids out so they sleep better? Did they not read my post from yesterday?

After lunch while Ben was napping, Emma and I went down to the marina to see the boats (well, the ferries. Emma is obsessed with the ferries. She knows all of the names of them - Park City, P.T. Barnum, Grand Republic). If ever you are wondering what kind of gift to get her, just go online and buy a bunch of tickets for the ferry leaving our port to Connecticut. She would be thrilled. I took a cell phone video of her walking along the pier. Notice the wind whipping her hair and just how rough the water in the port is:

First taste of the winter to come.

It is 53˚ today but the wind is blowing pretty strong so it feels more like 45˚. It is the perfect day to curl up on the sofa with a cup of hot tea and a good book. That's what I would have been doing 17 years ago when I lived on the Frost Coast, of course long before the two kiddos above were even thoughts in my head.

But because those kiddos are now a CONSTANT thought in my head, I figured I would throw on a heavy coat and make the most of the moody Autumn day. We hit up BJs early and got some groceries and an awesome pumpkin to carve. Then we headed over to Rocketship Park hoping to find some other families venturing out into the windy madness. The place was a ghost town, but that didn't stop us Californians! Emma whined about the cold for about 5 minutes, then she took her shoes off (huh?) and played for an hour in the sand - at least she kept her hat on. Ben on the other hand, only left his hat on for 4 second intervals. At least I got a cute pic! I chased him around the place putting it on his head. He would laugh, rip it off and run away. A fun little game that at least kept the blood circulating! (The blue Columbia fleece he is modeling is the one I got for $1.99 at the thrift store. Score.)

Newsflash! Sniper spotted.

Clever Daddy often says when our children fall down for no reason that the "sniper got ya!"

Emma has never ever questioned what a sniper is. She simply knows that he is the entity that makes children fall down. As we were walking home from the park Tuesday afternoon, out of nowhere Emma said, "Mama, did you see the sniper get that boy?" "Ummm, which boy?" "That boy at the park. He fell down. The sniper got him. And the sniper got Donnie, too, this morning at school. We were playing with the hula hoops and he fell down. The sniper got him." Oh goodness. I am curious to know if she told her teachers about this hostile sniper that is terrorizing the children of Port Jefferson...?

Because I am so clever (not really) and because of Benny's new obsession with the swings at the park, all I can think about when I push him is, "Swing, batter batter batter, swing!" I can't stop saying it. I did not grow up tortured by this name. My children will - like their father before them. I need to enroll them in Karate - not only to teach them discipline (which the 3 year old is in dire need of), but some self defense skills and more importantly, patience. As a matter of fact, I could use some of those classes my self!

Bennyscreamerheimer

As parents, our job is to get our children outside as much as possible so they will tire out and sleep through the night. That's right, right? Yes, the whole fresh air and exercise part is a bonus - but really I just want them to SLEEP deep and long.

Bennyisms:

When Emma is in school we LOVE to take Ben to open field to run like a mad man. As much as he enjoys a good park, an open field is PURE heaven. He is kind of like a dog when he sees open space. He just runs and runs and laughs (do dogs laugh?) and simply just enjoys the nature. I can't wait to see how he is going to react to fields of snow! (I can't wait to see how I am going to react for that matter...)

Daddy found this empty soccer field today. JOY JOY JOY.


Ben also LOVES running up and down the piers where the boats are docked in the marina near us. He will often lay on his tummy and watch the water splashing about.


When I am not home because I am working, he will go on a hunger strike. He will scream and complain, "Mamamamamamamaaaaaaaaaa!"

When he is mad at me because I won't let him do something he shouldn't be doing, he will swing his hand at me and say, "Dadadadadadadaaaaaa!"

The kid is already figuring out how to play his mama and papa.

"Mommy, there's a spider on the wall."
"That's okay, spiders are our friends."
"Butmama, can you dead it?"

Momsomnia

Whatever Ben had that gave him insomnia yesterday I seem to have caught. Instead of laying in bed tossing and turning I will attempt to update the blog with randomness of the kiddos that I adore.

Emma used to HATE to brush her teeth. I would literally hold her down with my legs wrapped around her and squeeze her cheeks with one hand while 'gently jamming' the toothbrush in her mouth with the other hand. This went on so much that it got to the point that it just wasn't worth this whole scenario more than once a week. (She's gonna lose those teeth anyways, right?) Well, I don't know how or why and I am not going to complain, but a few weeks ago something in her clicked and she realized that brushing her teeth all by herself could be fun. So now - at least 3 times a day she will say to me, "Mama, I gotta brush my teef. Dey really yellow. I gotta brush de white on 'em." (She thinks the toothpaste makes them white - not that they are white to begin with.) She will brush, then she will PLEASANTLY let me get in there and finish up the job. Imagine that. And, she no longer swallows the paste during the rinse portion. She has perfected a good swish around the mouth and strong stream of spurting it through her teeth into the sink without getting it everywhere. Phew.

Whenever Daddy happens to be sitting on the floor of the living room, Benny will walk up to him and say, "Yayayay yeeeoooo!" which is the sound Daddy makes when he plays the bounce baby on his lap then toss baby into the air game. Who said this kid can't communicate with words?

Emma has very clear speech for her age and is often mistaken for an older kid. It happened again at the playground this morning when she was playing with this 2 and a half year old girl, Molly. I was chatting with her parents about places to take the kids one the weather gets cold and the Mom said to me, "Emma plays so good with the younger kids. It must be because she has a younger brother." I explained that she just turned 3 in July and both parents were surprised. "Wow! She carries herself so much older," the Mom said. I thought about that a bit and agreed that she really did - and my whole point of this ramble is - I guess that is why it drives me so CRAZY when she occasionally talks in a baby voice and I have to say, "Emma, talk like a big girl." Then, the other day she was talking about putting something in the garbage - but she was pronouncing it, "gawbage" and I kept saying, "Emma, please talk like a big girl." and she said, "Butmama, I am!" Later that day when her teachers stopped by our house for a visit, one of them was talking about something and used the word "gawbage" in a sentence - and I immediately recognized that Emma was simply using a Long Island accent to pronounce it. HELP!!!

Apples and Bensomnia

One of the awesome things about Autumn on the east coast is that every weekend some near by small town has it's Fall Festival. Our town's is coming up in two weeks - lots of fun family activities and a PIRATE ship will be docked in the harbor for us to explore. Sweet!

This past weekend we were again blessed with unseasonably warm temps and clear blue skies. We took Gramma apple picking then had a picnic at our favorite kid friendly vineyards. We made another pie in the afternoon and enjoyed some good steaks for dinner. The perfect day. Apparently it was so perfect to Benjamin, that he woke up at 1am ready to enjoy it even more - which he did, until 4 am when he finally fell back asleep. Gramma bore the brunt of the "Bensomnia" as we had to put him in the pack and play in the living room so his antics would not wake up his sister.

3 on 2 = like button

What an amazing day!

The weather here could not be any more perfect. Crystal clear skies, fresh clean air, about 75˚ and sunny. As I know these days are waning, I try very hard to spend the entire day OUTSIDE - you know, clinging to my CA past denying that cold weather and things like ICE and SNOW will be coming my way...

And to top it off, Gramma Lou is here for a 3 day weekend visit! WOOT!

I pawned Emma off on Gramma for the 11am production of Sleeping Beauty at our local Children's Theatre. I am happy to report that it wasn't a "Disney" approved production so all the characters names were changed to protect the innocent, but the storyline was a pure rip off and Emma was able to generally follow it except when Sleeping Beauty showed up in a blue dress on stage and Emma announced to the audience that, "Why she wearing a blue dress? She's supposed to have a pink dress on."

Whilst the girls were enjoying the theatre, Ben and I went to the local elementary school and wreaked all kinds of HAVOC on the fields and playground. Picture this: Benjamin + open fields = pure unadulterated ecstasy. The kid RAN and RAN and RAN and RAN. I swear, I will never introduce him to video games so he becomes a couch potato, this kid has way too much potential to be an Olympic Track and Field star. I can envision the endorsements even now... Actually, I should be videoing all this RUNNING goodness now so they can incorporate the "old school" video into his future commercials like they do the Manning brothers... not that I can even pretend to enjoy the Manning brothers. Nah, that's a lie. Peyton is a dang good actor... "I'm Eli, one-zero."

Soon after, Ben and I picked up a GIANT pizza pie, then picked up the Gramma and Emma at the theater and headed home to a waiting Daddy for some scrumdilliumptious New York cuisine. YUM in our bellies, Ben napped and 'les girls' played outside riding bikes (Emma rocking the tricycle - she even pedals properly now!!). At 3:30, we woke a sleeping beauty Benny, juiced him up (that sounds bad!), and headed to the marina to fly our kite and play on the rocks / turtles. Gramma is the smart one with the good marina pics - i will try and steal a few and facebook them.

Dinner was brought to you by the letter C as in "crock pot" delicious seafood chowder. Kids bathed, books read, bedtime sleepyness, Daddy as the designated kidsitter - then Gramma and I headed off kid-free into the village to browse the stores and have adult conversation. I must admit, our quaint little seashore village is much more "quaint" when you can actually go into stores without the fear of "you break it, you buy it." We arrived home 90 minutes later relaxed and ready for sleeps... which is where I am headed now. Sleep well, my cyber friends.

"I'm the king of the swingers, the jungle VIP."

This evening after dinner as we were relaxing on the couch reading books, Emma smeared a wet finger across my face saying, "Hey Mama, you want some?" "Umm, eww. What was that?" "It was water." "Where did you get it from?" "From my mouth!" A saliva schmear - lovely...

Today was an absolutely beautiful sunshine California Winter day - except that we are no longer in California, and it is only the beginning of Autumn with a leftover Indian Summer here in New York. We started out the day at a group play date, it's the third time we have met with this group - there are a few cool Moms that I am getting to know, but mostly I spend the time making sure my children are behaving. Case in point, this morning - on this beautiful sunshine day - we were at our new friend's house for the playdate and all the children are smartly so playing OUTSIDE in the huge yard with lots of cool toys. But not my kids. My kids, my Thomas the Cheeky freakin' Train obsessed kids, are playing INSIDE with the coolest train track that ever a child did see, or so my kids thought. When I finally ripped them out of the playroom and forced them to play outside with all the other kids, the crocodile tears were a-flowing!! Daddy and I are so very ready to hire a hypnotist to come in and erase their tiny little memories of this little blue train...

After Ben's nap this afternoon, we embraced the sunshine and headed to our old standby, Rocketship Park. We spent about 90 minutes there - 81 of which Benjamin, king of the I HATE THE SWINGS, spent in a swing. GET THIS. Every time I tried to take him out of the toddler swing, he would freak out. Scream like a girl. The only thing that would calm him down was to put him back in the swing. So, back into the swing he went - happy as a clam to fly back and forth through the air. Why the sudden change? Only Benny knows... Luckily Emma is able to entertain herself for the most part at the park making new friends or, as luck would have it, a girl from her preschool was there and they played the afternoon away.

Just like Christmas

It was just like Christmas around here today! Emma was awake at 5am, Benny woke up at 6:15, a box of new clothes arrived via Fed Ex from Abeulita, and I scored 4 pairs of pants, 4 long sleeved shirts, 2 light jackets, and one heavy winter jacket (all of these for Ben) from the thrift store in Selden for $34.

The heavy jacket alone would have cost that much at Children's Place, and this one (top of pic in middle) looks as if it has been worn once. Yes, that is a "Jets" wind breaker - my kids can't wear Eagles gear on the playground here as they may get beaten up, so the green of the Jets is the closest I can safely get to them bleeding green. The Jets windbreaker at the NFL store cost $25, I got it for $2.99. Touchdown!


(Thanks to Henry's Mommy for the location of the thrift shop and for the idea to display the goods for all to see on my sofa...)

Biceps and Ben, with a splash of Em

Most of my friends work out and I simply cannot find it in my heart to exercise. But something came over me yesterday afternoon and I did two sets of 10 pushups. Emma, who has never seen this strange activity out of her mother said, "Mama, whatchoo doin'?" I'm doing push ups. "Why you doin' dat?" And because I couldn't answer and because I was shaking pretty bad on the last two, she then said, "Mama, you need help?"

This morning after a quickie trip into Walmart to buy a shower head with a hose so it is easier to bathe the children, we popped into the library to exchange a few books and dvds. We got a spot pretty close to the front door, so I just carried Ben and the diaper bag, and held Emma's hand. BIG MISTAKE for 2 reasons. #1 - my 20 whole pushups SHREDDED my biceps and I had to drop Ben on the ground to walk - which by the way, he has not figured out how to walk and hold my hand, basically because he DOES NOT KNOW how to walk - he only runs. And #2, I have no place to confine him when I need to stop him from yanking book after book off the shelves (they love me in the children's library) or simply just running at full speed up and down the stacks of books. And, of course, story time was about to begin so I got the bright idea to have my kids participate because stories are funner when I am the one not reading them. One page in and Ben FREAKED out. He and I had to leave and sit outside the room but at least Emma got to enjoy the time. I did get him to relax a bit after a while by occupying him with a Thomas book. Wonder where he got that interest from?


After Ben's nap the sun came out from it's 4 day hiatus behind the dark gray clouds so I figured the kids could use a bit of Vitamin D. Mama, too. So we headed to Rocketship park and played the afternoon away (a record 2 hours for me!). At one point Ben was getting cranky so I had the genius parenting idea of giving him a box of raisins to enjoy. Lest you forget, Rocketship park is a SAND base park. I didn't even realize it until the box was half gone, but Ben was using the box as a sand scoop then reaching in and eating the no longer sticky because of the "shake and bake" coating raisins. He probably ingested about half the box... Stellar parenting right there. Woot.

Hugs can heal

I arrived at JFK about 30 minutes late this morning. The monorail to long term parking was closed due to construction so I had to wait for a bus. The delay put me into rush hour traffic so I got home 2 hours later than normal. But guess what? All that melted away when I walked into my home and heard daddy giving the kids a bath (8:30am - missed bath last night due to power outage). I snuck into the bathroom and silently watched the fun. Benjamin finally looked up and saw me standing there. He got the hugest smile on his face and couldn't climb out of the tub and up into my arms fast enough. He held tight onto my neck all wet and dripping saying all kinds of welcome home greetings that went something like this, "Yadada waoooo ya mama yoyoyouuuu." It was music to my ears. I leaned over and gave Daddy a smooch and greeted a suddenly shy Emma who was hiding behind the cup we use to rinse their hair out. I took Benny into his bedroom and got him dried off and changed. He didn't stop 'talking' the whole time, filling me in on the past 48 hours that I was gone. When he was dressed, he hugged me for a bit, then satisfied I wasn't going to take off, he ran down the hallway to finish watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the tv. Emma came into the room next to get dressed, her shyness gone and gave me a giant hug. We had the best morning reading books and playing with blocks and preparing the house for our home visit with her preschool teachers after lunch (and by preparing, I mean vacuuming the carpet 'around' the toys - I didn't bother to pick them up, that wouldn't be a realistic representation of our home!!). Her teachers stopped by for a quickie 10 minute visit. Emma had a blast showing them her room and spent the whole time jumping on her bed telling them all about her favorite toys and the like. It was a pretty fun day, even though I was a semi zombie from the lack of sleep from the red-eye trip - the 2nd best part of it being when Emma said to me before lunch, "Mama, can we pop popcorn?" No, babe, we are gonna have lunch in a few minutes. "But MOM, WE HAVE LECTRICITY." No doubt referring to her newly learned word from yesterday's power outage extravaganza with daddy. It's lectric. Boogi woogie woogie.

I'm not Amish but I kinda get it

We had a rainy windy day today, which means no outdoors for the chilluns. Morning was spent wrestling on the couch, the floor, bed, and anywhere else gravity would allow. Oh and TV.

Ben usually naps right after lunch, so being the diligent dad I am (read: I do what mommy says) he went right in. No sooner had I pushed the button on the white noise machine than our power went out.

I have to say I'm proud that I didn't panic. At first. Ben could care less that there wasn't any of his usual nap accoutrements. Emma however wanted to do EVERYTHING THAT ELECTRICITY COULD PROVIDE. Make popcorn, watch TV, turn lights on, fan on, look at pictures on the computer, and TV.

After an hour diagramming to Emma how a circuit works, and why we were hosed for a bit, she relented and we built a fort. 3 hours later she was playing happily with benny in the gloom of the stormy darkness. We went to the store to buy candles, batteries, and a lighter; passing a police officer who gave us the scoop - downed tree on a line.

After getting home and settling in, I raced to scratch up dinner while light was still around. We ended up with both kids in their high chairs facing the living room window eating tofu, couscous, bananas, carrots, and Hummus. I guess having all my cooking apparati (sp?) taken away forced me to give the kids a healthy meal.

The candles TOTALLY relaxed the kids. Emma just sat and watched the flicker of the flame and the shadows on the wall.



Needless to say, they both fell asleep after reading a few books before 7. I'm gonna petition for going off the grid.

Power came on at 715. WOOHOO INTERNET!!!

Scratch the whole Amish thing.

21st century digital Daddy.

Daddy duty

The blog of the day is brought to you by the letter and verb/noun P.

Emma woke up this morning in time for breakfast in London, which is cool. Except for the part where we all remember that we live in the eastern time zone of the US, which means she woke up ridonkulously early. Needless to say, she ended up in our bed. Most of the time when this happens, someone gets the boot onto the couch since emzadoo likes to sleep diagonal and practice her tai chi in REM sleep. Of course she fell back to sleep right quick, only after Ben woke up and demanded entertainment (the 5:15am chorus line had a long Saturday night and called in sick, so we opted for Nick Jr on the computer). Ben's still pretty good about chilling in his pack and play in the pre-dawn hours, as long as he's watching a movie or internet show. Translated - he keeps his mouth shut!!

After all said travails had passed, I was gracefully awakened by Emma sitting up like a bolt of lightning hit her, and then exclaiming in full volume; "Daddy! It's morning time! Are you hungry?"

Umm...yes. Actually I was. We had quiche (slow down, mom made it the night before) and pancakes (not made the night before), and both kids were totally satisfied.

In our total commitment to getting the kids fresh air daily, I ventured out after breakfast to a new park. As I set Ben's feet on the ground Emma had already disappeared into a giant maze of a playground, which we will DEFINITELY be visiting again. Of course, the colon train made a stop in Ben's station 5 minutes after we got there, and of course, the main building and its bathroom was under construction leaving only a portapotty. Yet it was 60 degrees and cloudy out so no one was there but us. Which if you're picking up what I'm laying down means that bens bare butt was changed right next to the twisty slide.

Our next mission was to make an apple pie with the apples Emma and I picked the day before. I have never made apple pie before, but through the power of the magical internets I found a simple recipe that didn't require me to channel julia child or emeril. On our way to the store we watched The Princess and The Frog, quickly becoming one of my favorites. For those who remember, the bad guys' chorus goes "are you ready, are you ready", and Emma was ABSOLUTELY ready...to make apple pie. She kept repeating in perfect key with the song; "are you ready, are you ready, TO MAKE APPLE PIEEEEEE!!!"

Needless to say I fully expected her face to be coooovered in apple pie by days end. Although she was intent on participating in every step of prep, once the pie/crumble was baked, she wanted nothing to do with it. Go figure.

Evidence of the awesomeness can be seen above.

Last but not least, our potty training parents will appreciate this one. We ran out to get chinese food for dinner (yay for daddy), and emma celebrated by peeing on the car seat. Of course we get home and THEN I find out. So I get her cleaned up and sitting on the potty, and I run downstairs to do my best to clean up the seat. With that job done (5 minutes elapsed), I run back upstairs, curious to see what the aftermath will be. I walk in to see Emma's bare butt streaking across the house, Ben sitting on the coffee table, and an entire roll of TP sitting in the toilet.
Priceless.

Let me tell you I was PSYCHED that there was a delectable apple crumble for me for ME!!!