Time for a breather

Emma is getting harder and harder to keep in bed these days. She has every excuse to get up and keep her brother awake. She is driving me crazy and I am about to go to the hardware store to purchase some rope so I can hog tie her to her mattress. Is that bad parenting?

Ben on the other hand is an absolute sweetheart when it comes to simply laying in bed until he drifts off to dreamland. His sister has been raging for 45 minutes now and he is just flopping around trying to find his comfy spot quiet as a church mouse.

I am probably antsy because I didn't get out of the penthouse at all today as I was cleaning and prepping the suitcases for our trip to Florida tomorrow. The flight is only 3 hours long - so much nicer than our west coast - east coast jaunts with the kids, and they are older now and generally easier to entertain. But just the stress of being out of the house again so quickly coupled with knowing as soon as we get back we immediately leave for Palm Springs for our convention means that 18 of 21 days have been / will be spent sleeping in a bed other than mine.

The day did go pretty fast today. The kids are having a blast playing with their new toys. The Thomas tracks continue to be the big winner - we spent a good 4 hours of today building them and playing, ripping them apart then rebuilding them in a different configuration and playing with them more. I ordered some rechargeable batteries today because we are blowing through AAs like crazy. As you can see, Ben likes to get right in the center of it all with his face super close to the track to watch them go by. It is so darned adorable and he gets the biggest smile. When a train derails and he can't get it back on the track, he will grab it, come and find me, tug on my pants to get my attention, take my hand and place the train in it, look me in the eye and smile huge, then run back to the tracks looking over his shoulder to make sure I am following him. It bursts my heart! If only he would speak - it would make the process so much easier for him. But then again he would sound like his sister screaming at me across the living room, "MOOOOOOM! GET IT! PUT PERCY BACK ON THE TRACK! QUICK, MOM! THOMAS IS GOING TO CRASH HIM!" ...I think I prefer the mute...

Christmas 2010

I didn't take any notes about the wonderfully funny stuff that Emma said this past week and I can't remember the details (oi), so you will just have to trust me that she did not disappoint.

Our Christmas was AWESOME. My entire immediate family was present which was the best Christmas present ever. That hasn't happened for 3 years - Emma's 1st Christmas. Ben woke up at about 6:30am and Emma soon after. They timidly came into the living room, saw the goods, ran up to the tree and stood there not quite sure what to do! Ben just wandered around in circles around the room ultimately picking his old toys out of the toy bin and playing with them. It was as if he were too overwhelmed to grab any of the new stuff. Emma just sat on the carpet staring at the unwrapped presents finally figuring out that we could open the others. We spent the next hour slowly unwrapping / playing with the gifts. There were a few toys that were a big hit - especially the leap frog computer, princess magic wand from Auntie Cold, and the Thomas the Train Trackmaster set that neither kid could get enough of.

Around 10am we headed over to Aunt Lisa's for round 2. We had a yummy brunch and unwrapped a bunch more presents and played the afternoon away until Grandpa and Grandma Nancy arrived for round 3. Yes, round 3! Needless to say, there is a reason I only spent a total of $60 of my own money on presents for my kiddos. They are so very loved by our families that they get so much cool stuff!!

Both kids were exhausted by the end of the day and slept hard and long that night. I am happy to report Benny slept pretty good the whole week we were there - he only had one night of insomnia and one night of waking but falling back to sleep after some milk (much better statistics than our Thanksgiving vacation).

On Sunday evening the storm that we had been eyeballing decided to swing back around and dump a foot of snow on our home in NY. We debated driving back on Monday as planned, but were confident that by the time we reached our neck of the woods the county plows would have done their jobs and cleaned up the streets. We were correct and made it back with no trouble. As we are heading to Florida to celebrate the New Year with Abuelita and Grandpop and Uncle Raul and Aunt Laurie, we left our dogs in the care of Gramma Lou. About 2 hours into our drive home when we stopped for lunch Emma burst into tears crying out at the top of her lungs with giant tears rolling down her face that she "missed Doedoe and Cass so much and that we had to turn around and go back to Gramma's house right now and get them!" She did it randomly again today here at the penthouse. Who knew she liked the doggies so much... I am also pleased to report that about 30 minutes from home she announced that she had to go potty and held it the entire way home without a drip. That has given me confidence that she truly is "trained" and I will attempt to now stop reporting to you on a daily basis about the toilet habits of our daughter. (Or maybe I won't - you will have to keep reading! I will probably be telling you on her 16th birthday that she didn't have an accident and we are very proud of her...)

Here are pics of some of our favorite gifts:

(Handy Manny toolbox, Leap frog computer, and paints and stamp craft kit)

(Train tracks complete with motorized trains, and Toy Story 3 Chutes and Ladders - Aunt Miki won!)

(a rare present - my siblings and their spouses all together in front of the tree)

Hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families and friends!! xoxoxo, Mommy

Trains!

We have been so busy playing with our Christmas bounty that I haven't had time to post. I have set aside time tonight after the kids go to bed, but for now enjoy this 30 second clip:

Brush your teeth!!

Yesterday my false teeth having father popped out his bottom teeth and handed them to Emma. She about died on the spot. She was soooooo worried that there was something wrong with her beloved Grandpa that she almost started o cry. When I explained to her that Grandpa was just teasing her and he had fake teeth she felt a bit better but told him he really should go to the dentist. Then she had a brilliant idea, "Grandpa! Herbie is a dentist! He can fix your teeth!!!" (As in Herbie the Elf from Rudolph - hahahaha!)

Our drive to PA was fabulously uneventful. There was no traffic - not even in NYC - and we only had to stop for one potty break. Emma did great and once again we were very proud of her. We arrived in record time and are hoping for something similar on the return trip!

It hasn't gotten above 29˚ this week and is almost too cold to play outside. Emma had fun shoveling Gramma's front steps with Cousin Frank, but that is about all the fun we have been able to have outside so far. There are a couple of inches of snow on the ground with cold temps forecasted, so it looks like we will be having a white Christmas. Hooray!

Flirt

We have had such a good run of sleep filled nights here that I didn't want to write about it and jinx it, but last night Ben woke up hollering at 1am from a bad dream. He couldn't be convinced to go back into his crib, so he and I snuggled in on our comfy sofa. We just hung out snuggling and singing soft songs for about an hour. It was sweet and wonderful and as I tired as I was I know my days of snuggling in with Ben like this are numbered so I enjoyed every minute of it. At 2:10am when he finally decided, no more snuggling I want to PLAY, I decided that if he wanted to play he could take his train with him into his crib and play there. Usually this is cause for great fuss from Ben, but last night he was content to do so. I heard him quietly playing for about 10 minutes before I passed out, then he must have to and slept until almost 9am this morning.

Last Thursday while Emma was in school, Daddy and I took Benny to Fun For All. He was nonstop movement for the entire 75 minutes we were there. He was so excited to be out of the Penthouse and to also have the full attention of Mommy and Daddy. Normally he isn't a fan of the bouncy jumpers, but there was a cute little almost 2 year old girl playing on it, so Benny actually stayed a while and flirted with her by falling face first into the pit over and over near where she was playing. It was so darned adorable. By the time we needed to leave and pick up Emma, he was starting to slow down, so I scooped him up and off we went. He was asleep pretty quickly in the van, and barely even moved when I transferred him from the van to his crib where he napped for over 2 hours. Sweet!

Humble Bumble

As it is colder here these days than Alaska (seriously - check weather.com!!), we have been stuck inside quite a bit. We fill our days by rotating through our toys, watching Christmas movies over and over, coloring, playdoh and lots and lots of wrestling. Oh, and hide and seek is still a big winner here in the Penthouse. Yes, the Penthouse. I have been struggling to come up with a name for our NY pad and it finally hit me today that we live on the top floor of the building so it is the Penthouse!! (Yes, it is only a two story building but...)

Our absolute favorite way to enjoy the time as a family is to look through old photos and video. Both kids LOVE to watch themselves on video, but Benjamin gets the biggest gas out it - especially if he is being naughty on the video. The following 30 seconds is proof that our son loves to watch himself as Benny the destroyer.

Daddy wants me to go through the toys and get rid of the ones we don't play with. Trouble is, we play with them all - there are 12 hours of fun to fill! He said, "We never play with those blocks." Yes. we do, Dad, here is proof!

And finally, further proof that we may possibly break the record for "Most Viewings of Rudolph in a Holiday Season" today when we were coloring, Emma asked me to draw a picture of Rudolph. She then demanded I give him a red nose. Then she made me draw Clarice - complete with purple bow on her head. She went through the whole cast of the show even commanding me to make Yukon Cornieljes' dogs... When we were done, she roared around the house as the Abominable Emma with her claws out. She finally ended the show turning "nice" and calling herself a "Humble Bumble."

And, yes, I am well aware I missed my calling as a Metropolitan Museum of Art worthy artist...

Dr Emma, please report to Pediatrics.

My journaling seems to always fall off this time of year. It's not that nothing exciting is happening - it's that too much exciting is happening and I don't have time to write about it. Which saddens me because if I don't write about it, I will forget about it!! I love looking back over my blog books and seeing how my children have grown - and how I have grown as a parent, too!

I got the best text from Daddy on Monday when he was playing Mr Mom. They had stopped at a local pizzeria and picked up a pie for dinner. Emma kept calling it the "pizza store" and Daddy kept trying to correct her and teach her a new word. Finally Emma decided that it should be a combo of both and that it would from now on be called a "pizzaSTORia" (with the emphasis on the 'stor' syllable).

She is also is Dr Emma mode keeping a good eye on her snot nosed brother. "Hey Mom, Benny's got something yucky on his face." - referring to a giant booger that landed on his cheek during a good old wipe my nose on my sleeve swipe. Awesome.

Daddy has taken to making up his own stories at night time instead of reading the books we have for the 842nd time (hint hint, Santa Claus!). The other day he was telling our children as they were lying in bed this awesome continuous story about a little blond girl who travels places on a big red boat. This particular day she landed on an island filled with monkeys. All of a sudden Ben, completely unprovoked, added his own sound effects going, "Oo oo, ah ah ah!" which reminds me once again a) how freaken cute this kid is, b) how smart he is, and c) that he is not deaf, he is just a man with selective hearing.

Emma continues to thrive at preschool. When we picked her up the other day her teacher told us that whenever she asks a kid in the class who is their best friend, they all say, "Emma B!" How sweet is that?

a post for mommy

Daddy's hijacking the blog tonight. 


Don't expect anything grand or witty, I think this video should stand alone.

And don't dare question my claymation mommy...

The Santa chronicles 2010

This morning a friend of our family posted a picture of their children (3 years and almost 2 years - sound familier?) of the kids sitting on Santa's lap. I showed the picture to Emma NEVER expecting the response I got. She thought about it for awhile, then said, "Mom, we gotta make a list." "A list, for what?" "A list to give to Santa. I gotta give it to him so he knows what to give me for Christmas." "Okay, I will be happy to make you a list. But do you want to go and see Santa and give it to him?" "Yes, Mommy. I wanna go today!"

It is amazing what a bit of peer pressure can do!

I gave her a few different outs as we were getting ready to go and as we were driving there, but she was adamant that she wanted to see Santa. We waited in a fast moving line and she didn't even flinch when it was her turn. She walked right up to him and gave him her list and sat on his lap without hesitation. I don't think she actually said anything to him, but he did a nice job of reading the list back to her and she didn't show any signs of being afraid. When it came time for the photo op, I tossed Benny real fast on Santa's lap so we could attempt a nice picture, but that was asking too much and we got this:

The best part is this short shaky video that I was trying to take while attempting to get Ben to look at the camera:

I never expected this day to happen and I was SO PROUD of Emma as we were leaving. She was petrified of Santa up until she saw Kayla sitting on his lap in a FB picture. Then, something clicked and she got the courage to do what she needed to do. It was AWESOME.

And just so we have a quick comparison from the last 3 years...

 Yesterday I was helping out in the preschool so Ben went to the office with Daddy. Look at this cute little professional in training!!

For dinner last night Ben had some applesauce. We usually feed him this as he likes to make a giant mess if we don't. Well our babysitter Wednesday night didn't know this and she let him feed himself and apparently he did a great job, so we decided to give him another shot at it. Looky looky, Ben acting like a big boy at the dinner table!

Emmsa-doo

6 months ago when we moved here from a two bathroom place, I was slightly concerned about downgrading to a one bathroom joint with 3 out of 4 of us now using the potty.  To my surprise it has only been a problem a couple of times - and one of those times was yesterday.

Daddy was occupying the WC when Emma announced, "I gotta go poopy!" She ran to the door and knocked on it hurriedly and Daddy speedily finished up lighting a match to cover the stink. Emma walked in, took a whiff and proclaimed, "I smell a private!" (Huh??)

Later that afternoon the exact scenario happened again, this time Daddy did not light a match and when Emma entered the bathroom she in a grossed out manner said, "Hey, I smell a poopy!" - make up your mind, kid!

This morning Emma woke from a bad dream at about 5:50am and wandered into our room. I pulled her into bed with us for a snuggle and then decided I may as well get up and get my day started. I left her and Daddy and went into the kitchen and unloaded the dishwasher. About five minutes later, she wandered out and saw me moving around although it was still dark outside and asked, "Mommy, are you waking up?" Yep, I said. "Umm, can I waking up, too?" Sure, I said. She was so thrilled with my answer she flew across the room and gave me a giant hug! I am pretty sure she figured it was the middle of the night and didn't think I would let her play...

Emma's word of the week is "actually." And I love the way she pronounces it. She was walking around with my purse around her neck and I said, "Oh, Emma, I like your new purse!" "Axshully, Mama, it's your purse." She uses it often in her sentences. "Em, do you want milk?" "Axshully, I want juice." "Axshully I wanna take a bath." "Axshully I wanna wear my sneakers." The best part about it is you have to imagine her saying it in her best "Valley Girl - gag me with a spoon" accent! You can take the girl out of the Valley, but you can't take the Valley out of the girl!

Finally, after preschool today we headed over to a school buddies house for a playdate. We had never been there before so I had looked up the address on mapquest and showed Emma where we were going. As we were driving there, I told Emma, "We have to look for the yellow house with the number 26 on it." to which Emma replied quite forcefully, "No, Mommy, Georgie's house is near the letter A." What?? "Yes, Mommy, you showed me, his house is near the letter A." I then realized she was talking about the map. (See picture!!)

If I could save time in a bottle...

For the 2nd day in a row, Ben was up and ready to play at 5am. I don't know why this throws such a monkeywrench into my day - oh, yeah, sleep deprivation! - but I am not myself and it takes me even longer to get out the door with the kids in the morning when I have an extra two hours!

Granted, when he is up this early we have some good one on one time. We have spent the past 2 mornings singing songs snuggled on the couch. He is getting so big, but he still loves to curl up on my chest and for me to rub his back while I sing. He also continues to love the "moutsa" game (thank you Kai Lan) where he puts objects on my head, looks me in the eye, and laughs at how silly I look. By the way, Ben has THE BEST laugh. You can't help but laugh when this kid is laughing! Daddy and I were also remarking that we love the sound of his voice, too. He is such a bruiser of a boy, but has this delicate sweet speaking voice.

Emma continues to blow us away daily. She has an elephant's memory and uses it to her advantage often. Last night after dinner we wandered around Main Street. Our village was hosting their 15th Annual Charles Dickens Festival. Lots of folks were walking the streets in vintage Dickens era costumes bursting into Christmas carols randomly on the street corners. It was only 38˚ out, so we tossed Ben, who refuses to wear gloves, in the stroller, popped Emma on Daddy's shoulders (she loves wearing hats and mittens, phew!) and did a 20 minute power walk around the village enjoying the people watching and the lights. We even toasted marshmallows on the street with a family that provided the fire and free marshmallows - the perks of living in a tiny village! I forgot my camera - argh - but here is a bad cell phone pic of Emma all wintered out (knitted cap compliments of Henry's mama - isn't it cute???) getting her free ride.

And another thing...

This amazingly handsome little man spoke his first real word today. At Target he walked up to a bin of bananas and tried to grab one saying, "Nana!"

We've been practicing all afternoon to make sure it wasn't a fluke. It's not!

poop-doh

How does a toy bring our daughter so much joy yet is the bane of my existence?

Parenting 101

When we dropped Emma off at preschool this morning it was only 37˚ out. As we were cooped up inside the entire day yesterday due to torrential rains (and late evening blackout), I wanted to give Ben the chance to RUN.

So we headed to South Setauket and our favorite indoor playground, Target!

"Target?" you ask? Yep, Target. Poor Ben is ALWAYS delegated to the shopping cart seat when we are there because usually I have 20 minutes and 2 kids and I need to go fast. But not today. Today we had 2 hours to kill and nothing to buy, so I didn't get a cart and let big bad Ben go on his own.

At first he was incredibly timid. He was walking gingerly on the shiny floor as if he were walking on ice. He was screaming like he was in pain and straightening out his body with crazy discomfort. I was laughing so hard because I truly thought he thought he was going to slip and fall if he walked on the floor.

Finally after about 5 minutes of the fuss, he relaxed and took off running. I am pretty sure we went down every single aisle and you could hear me often say, "Hey, I didn't know they sold that here!" as we went down aisles I had never seen! My favorite part was when he turned the corner into the toy aisle - the train aisle to be exact. He stopped short and just stared in awe. Then he tip toed up to a box and touched it ever so softly as if they were crystal and he didn't want to break them. I squatted down next to him and he turned and gave me the biggest hug ever! He was so happy - as if he were in train heaven. We sat there for a good 5 minutes just looking at the pictures on the boxes. He didn't necessarily want me to buy them, although I am sure he wouldn't have complained if I did, he was just enjoying the moment - a great lesson for us all.

He also had a ton of fun running all around the men's overstuffed department. They had more clothes than space so it made for good hide and seek. I am sure the guys in the security department were wondering what this crazy mama was doing letting her kiddo run wild throughout the store... We ended up buying some pan spray and 2 bananas for a total of $1.70. I don't think I ever spent so much time in a Target and got out for so little!!

Oh, and here is the good parenting part. As I was paying for the goods I scooped Ben up so he wouldn't run away. He STUNK so bad. Turns out the fussing and gingerly stepping when we first arrived was INTESTINAL DISTRESS not a fear of walking on the floor...

Bad mama. Bad mama. Bad mama.