Dessert?

Because the sun was shining this morning I got the bright idea to take my children to Rocketship park. Yes, it was only 33˚ - but we were bundled up nice and toasty and off we went. The park was deserted, as expected, but the good news is all the snow has melted and the park was screaming for company. I unloaded the kiddos all excitedly from the van and we walked up to the gate only to find a nice big shiny masterlock and chain on the door. BOO! I hailed a policeman driving by and asked him when the park would be reopening - he looked at me like I was an unfit mother and said in his Long Island drawl, "Prawbably when it warms up, lady. Maybe after Saint Patrick's day." The kids didn't like that answer any more than I did and started whining that they wanted to play as I loaded them back into the van.

We drove off with no destination in mind, making random lefts and rights. Emma finally said, "Hey, Mom. Where's the donut shop?" Hmmmm, not a bad consolation prize for a Saturday morning. I chucked a U-ey and back to Main Street we went parking just around the corner from where we left the park. I unloaded the kids again and into the donut shop we went. Emma spied a chocolate heart shaped donut with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and requested that one. I knew Ben wouldn't eat one and it was early enough in the day for me to still have discipline so that was all we got. The man behind the counter took pity on my kids and tossed in 2 freebie chocolate munchkins, we thanked him, paid and sat down at the counter with the giant mirrors to watch ourselves eat our morning snacks. Emma ate her munchkin first then dove into the donut. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, it was jelly filled, yuck, so she ate around the jelly watching herself in the mirror the whole time. Ha!

Ben watched himself in the mirror, too. But Ben did not eat his munchkin, he rolled it back and forth and back and forth like a super ball, finally picking it up and shoving it into my mouth. So much for discipline. (I didn't fight him too hard though...)

These are my favorite pics of the week. Skinny Benny crawling on Daddy after his bath, Emma dressing herself, and this morning at the donut shop. Yummmmmm. (click on the pic to enlarge it)

Tonight while I was making dinner, I noticed Emma digging pretty intently with her finger into her ear. "Is your ear hurting, Em?" "Nah," she answered, "I'm just gettin' the goo out."

random tangent #252

When I look at a sleeping Benny in his crib I always think how big he has gotten and how he is so close to outgrowing that crib. Then I marvel at the design of the thing and no matter how hard he attempts to crawl out of the thing he simply can't because the designer of it actually probably had children and it is truly child-crawl-out-proof. He may even be sleeping in it on his 5th birthday... Feel free to check back then.

Until then.... Sweet dreams!

Beach weather?

Because I don't want to expose other children to Typhoid Benny but I find it important that we all get out of the house daily, I decided to take the kids where no other kids would be in Winter when the temp is only 37˚ - the beach!

Our favorite beach at low tide - West Meadow Beach (the cool one with the sand bars that you can walk out into at low tide and find all sorts of cool ocean creatures), is pretty darn cool in Winter, too. We went for a 20 minute brisk walk first with me pushing the kids in the stroller along the paved path that parallels the beach. It was so peaceful to listen to the birds and ducks and other wildlife naturing away. The kids hardly said a word taking in the sights and sounds. That is until when we turned around and headed toward the playground and Emma asked how far away it was and I said, "Do you see that lady walking all they way up there?" (pointing to a person about 200 yards away.) "Yep," she replied. "Well, we have to catch up with that lady and we will be at the park," I said. "When we catch her, can we knock her down?" she questioned?

WHAT?

I have come to the realization that I no longer can control the things my big girl hears and stores in her brain.

We played for about 15 minutes on the playground at the beach and then decided to take a walk down to the water's edge. I gotta tell you, I love that Ben is now listening when I say to him, "Come on, Ben, let's go!" He will finally follow us without me having to drag him along. Wait, did I say Ben listens? He listens EXCEPT when he is at the water's edge and decides to go for a polar swim! Yep, he did so awesome listening, but his mistress in the water was calling his name, too, and in he went. I snatched him up before he got more than his feet wet and he was not at all happy. Don't worry, mistress, we will be back often this summer...

PS Both kids have the runs today. Stupid fast food...

"There's always tomorrow."

Sometimes I reflect on my day as a person / parent / wife / sister / daughter / friend and wonder if I did all that I could to be "all that I can be." Today was one of those days...

As I mentioned earlier today, the Petri Dish is rocking. I feel guilty taking the kids out in public for fear of spreading the plague. Yet by 4 pm they are driving me so mad from seeing the same four walls and the same toys that they need some outside interference. Soooooo, I did what any self respecting kiddo loving Mom should do. I took my kids to Wendy's for dinner. Proof:

My husband was working hard out in the field and I simply had no dinner inspiration left in me. Soooooo, fast food it was! But, this is how clever I am, I went through the drive through, ordered and paid and received dinner, then parked and brought the kids inside to eat immediately! No waiting in a long line with kids running amock! I simply sat them at a table and dispersed the food.

Let me give you the fascinating play by play:  Emma took the top of the bun off. She licked the mayo off and placed the bun to the side. She then took the lettuce off and ate exactly one bite reminding herself that iceberg just doesn't do it for her. Next, she pulled off the bacon and ate it fast! Next, she slowly scraped off the cheese and enjoyed the taste of fake American goodness. The burger was next, and I gotta tell ya, Gramma Lou got the kids fake "food" in a shopping basket with a frying pan for Christmas and the fake burger patty that is flatter than Christopher Columbus' 'Oh, no it isn't" world is actually double the thickness of an actual Wendy's Bacon Jr. Cheeseburger - but WHO CARES, really, the smaller the beef patty the less the sodium, right?

Ben's play by play is JUST AS awesome. I got Ben the 5 pack chicken nugget. He took exactly 22 minutes to eat TWO nuggets. Wow, you think, that's a long time... That is because Ben doesn't bite at food, he picks at it like a little bird. He will pull off the breading, crumb by crumb, and eat it. He usually discards the actual chicken, but tonight for whatever reason, he ACTUALLY ate 2 whole nuggets!! WOOT!

We came home, Emma was in bed and asleep by 6:55, Ben hung in there longer, snuggling and enjoying nursery rhymes until about 7:20 when I put him to bed. Both kids are quiet. There is no hacking. May they sleep well tonight and wake healthy.

I am so dang tired that when my neighbor called, I immediately sent the call to voicemail, only to minutes later check it. She had cheese cake that she wanted to drop by. CHEESECAKE! But I can't even return the call to accept it I am so exhausted. Just know, neighbor, if you are reading this, that you had me at, "Oreo cookie crust..."

Hackitywhooo

Ben's appetite has returned, so even though he still has that ugly cough, I know he is feeling better. So much so, that twice today, breakfast and lunch, I watched him steal food from Emma's plate while she was distracted. The second time I caught him I yelled at him, "Benjamin!" He quickly shoved the food entirely into his mouth so I wouldn't be able to take it away. HA! His cheeks were puffed out and he was loving the extra grub.

We hit up the library for a whopping 20 minutes this morning. All was fine until the hack started and then everyone looked at me like the bad Mommy that I am bringing my plague filled kids to a public place to spread the love. Hey, it was just a cough - no more runny noses! Needless to say, we hightailed it out of there quick and are now back inside the four walls of the Petri Dish. I didn't get a run in again today as the temps this morning were 29˚ and my lungs can't hack it that cold. Boo.

pushing through

Ben's bottom molars are coming in nicely. I finally got a good peek at the top ones - they are no where to be seen. His fever is gone, but he definitely has a new full on winter cold that he has ever so graciously shared with all of us. Our home is a cacophony of coughs - joy of joys! Being "Down with the Sickness" has put a hamper on my running - that and the 6 fresh inches of snow that fell yesterday, but as soon as Daddy gets home I am going to head out in it and run, I think more as a mental break for me than the physical...

Why would I need a mental break? EMZILLA has turned into WHINEZILLA. She is absolutely positively driving me batty. I have read every single article on the internet about controlling it and tried every technique. Nothing is working and I am so very close to... going running to escape her. haha

That being said, I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoy one on one time with my kiddos. At various times throughout the day due to naps (Ben) or school (Emma) or what have you, I get to spend a wee bit of quality time individually with my offspring.

Today, because As The Petri Dish Turns, colds + molars = miserable children. But miserable children = quality time on the couch. That sounds crazy, but today I got to snuggle with Ben on the sofa as he hacked up a lung like an old man with emphysema, and I got to do the same with Em while Ben was snoozing.

This post feels more wishy washy than Charlie Brown... Does that even make sense?

Before the delirium sets in, I will leave you with a clever little girl story... At Target this morning Emma announced that she wanted to clean out all her princess toys and "give them to the new kids to enjoy" i.e. donate them. I looked at her and said, 'Emma, that is very nice of you. There are lots of little girls out there who would love to play with your princess toys." To which she replied, "Yeah, if I give 'em my toys then you can buy me NEW princess ones to play with."

The good news is...

So it seems as though Ben's most recent 24 hour fever / runny nose may actually have to do with the fact that the kid is cutting his 2 year molars. It's funny how quick that happens - on Wednesday after his well visit, he and I were wrestling and I was tickling him joking, "When are you gonna get your new teeth, buddy?" I had jammed my finger in there to feel around, nothing. I held him upside down and tickled him so he would open his mouth wide, nothing. Then, this morning, we were in wrestlemania mode yet again and when he open mouth laughed - TADA! molars are cutting through. They seem to be pushing through fast, so let's all pray that he is done and doner in the next 24 hours. Amen.

Mr. Spring decided he needed a day off today and he has only really been at work for less than a week. I may need to report his behavior to Mother Nature because I find it quite rude that he would work so hard then decide that we wouldn't top 36˚ today. This afternoon, Emma and I hit up the produce market and the wind was so cold it took both of our breaths away. We were hightailing it through the busy parking lot and Emma said, "Come on, Mommy, you gotta run faster! It's cold out here." Of course, I was wearing my Winter leather and she was wearing just a fleece. Bad Mommy.

Day 4 of the 5k training went well. I made it another 2 extra songs on the ipod - even in the cold! I also realize how AWESOME our little village is to run through at 7:30am on a Saturday morning... "not a creature was stirring..."

Butler Ben

Ben has reached the stage when he needs to do his 'business' he runs off to a private spot to get 'er done. To me that signals he is getting ready for potty training. Am I going to do it? Nope. But if I realize what he is doing I am going to make an effort to scoop him up to poop on the potty. Problem is, I am usually consumed with kid #1 when he takes off and don't notice he is gone for an extended period until he returns all stinky...

Cuteness extraordinaire this morning when Ben, who woke up at 5:20, ran back into the kids bedroom at about 6:30 saying, "Emma up. Emma Emma up." He was even ringing the doorbell on the cottage in their room to roust her. I snatched him out of there in time and she slept for another half hour, phew, but the fact that he wanted his big sister to wake up and come play with him melted my sleepy heart.

Oh, and Butler Ben has returned. All the doors in my home are constantly being closed if left open. This morning the kid was engrossed in Handy Manny but broke away to run down the hall and close the bathroom door that I left open after brushing my teeth. He returned to his exact spot on the couch after completing the task!

Fitness fun

Sooooo, Ben has a cold. Again. He woke up from his nap with a fever. Again. Of course on a Friday afternoon. Again. I have got to get this kid to eat more nutritious foods - including probiotics - to boost his immune system. The problem is HOW? I gave him some tylenol and he seems better so I will see how he sleeps tonight then decide if we need a trip to the Pediatrician - even though we were just there 2 days ago and he got a clean bill of health. I may have to rename the Penthouse "The Petri Dish."

Today on Sesame Street they introduced the word "twins". All day Emma had her two babies with her and called them twins. "Mommy, could you put these socks on the twins heads so I can pretend they are hats that match just like twins match?" Who says tv isn't good for you?

Emma is also wii fitness mad. Every afternoon before dinner she requests to "exercise" with the wii. Her favorite is the running game, 2nd fav is probably the chicken arm flap game, and the ride the Segway comes in a close third (she likes to drive it into the water). I love that she enjoys "exercise" and I praise wii for getting the little kids involved (fun for parents, too). Who says video games aren't good for you?

I completed day 3 of my 5k training this morning. I am oddly looking forward to running every morning. Who am I? It certainly doesn't hurt that Spring is in the air and I am reminded of my youth - the sights / sounds / smells of Spring:  the melting snow, the running water everywhere, the grass peeking through, light jackets, MUD. It is a great way for me to start my day! But I have to be honest, by 1pm I am exhausted and as soon as I put Ben in for his nap, I turn on pbs for Emma and crash hard on the sofa for 30-60 minutes. My body is just not used to being this physical!

We also got to go to "new park" this morning for an hour with a preschool buddy. Fresh air fresh air fresh air. If only Benny were healthy...

King of the Mountain

Yesterday was up to 53˚ - hooray! We enjoyed playing in the melting snow without having to be bundled up. Of course, melting snow = muddy grass and the boy on the left needed a few changes of clothes, a small price to pay for fresh air and sunshine!

Emma and I got into a hearty argument over footwear. She was convinced that because it was warming up, Spring is here and she no longer needed to wear boots and could finally wear her crocs again. She won this battle (I pick and choose, you see), mostly because I knew her feet would get soaked and she would be cranky and I hoped to use it as a teaching lesson. Silly Mommy? Her feet got wet, she was a whining miserable child, which put a damper on my time in the sunshine...

Ben was awesome to watch. He is all BOY, if you haven't already noticed. The snow on the ground is melting fast and lots of grass has appeared, but the drifts the snow was plowed into are still pretty high. Ben loves to drive his trucks and trains around the melting drifts. He then proceeds to climb the drifts, but because they are steep and he isn't wearing gloves, the smart little adventurer uses his ELBOWS like ice pics to dig in and make it to King of the Mountain. Awesomeness.

The growth spurt

We just got back from the re-scheduled well visit for Ben. His ears were clear, his heart sounded good (how can they really tell through his screams??) and apparently both of his testicles are in place. Woohoo. (Ben really is going to sock me when he is old enough to know I wrote about that for all the internet world to read.) He is in the 95% for height at 39 inches (37? ...now I can't remember) and the doctor said he had quite a growth spurt height-wise since his last visit. He is 29 lbs 12 ounces, which places him right between the 50-75%. His giant Batter head has stayed the same so all is good in the enormous noggin world.

He was fully immunized and didn't need anything else, but since we are possibly heading to Ecuador again come September, I had him get the second Hep A so he could be done with that for life. He didn't like the idea much, but the doc was speedy fast and the tears only lasted a few minutes.

When we got back to the house, the sun was shining and the air was warmish (40˚), so we played outside in the melting snow for about 30 minutes. Emma excitedly pulled her bikes free from the snow and rode up and down the sidewalk. Believe it or not, the electronic Kai Lan big wheels bike still makes all the right noises, even after being dumped on with three blizzards and out in the rain. This bike in indestructible and the best gift she has ever gotten!

I started training this morning for my first 5k in 21 years. I cannot believe it has been that long since I ran in an official race! My first race is March 12th and I plan to do one a month all summer long. I ran for about 15 minutes this morning and felt pretty good about it when it was all said and done. I did better than expected on the hills and I am looking forward to pushing myself further and further every day as I only have about 24 more days to be ready! Wish me luck!

One on one time

While Emma was at preschool this morning, Benny and I braved the 20˚ temps and hit up my favorite super/produce market, Guinta's. We walked out of there with 4 bags of fruits and veggies for a little over $20. I LOVE THAT PLACE. I love that place even more after this morning's visit because as we wandered down past the butcher, Benny said, "Mmmwah." - which is the sound I make when I give him a kiss. I took that as a request that he wanted a smooch and leaned into his handsome little face. The kiddo put both of his hands on my cheeks, pulled my face to his and went, "Mmmwah, Mmmwah, Mmmwah, Mmmwah, Mmmwah, Mmmwah, Mmmwah!" a good 7 or 8 times pressing his cute little lips on mine over and over again. My heart burst into a million pieces and I fell in love with that amazing little man for the millionth time in his two short years here on Earth. I guess since we couldn't spend Valentine's Day together he was making up for my lack of feeling the love!

After the kissing booth, we had about 45 minutes to kill, so we hit up our local library. Ben is finally settling down for a few minutes at a time and actually letting us read the occasional book to him. In the past, he would sit for hours and read to himself, but let us read to him? Forget it! It was so nice to relax on the bench in the children's section and simply read a book. We also played with the puzzles and the legos, but the book part was my favorite.

This afternoon while Benny was napping, Daddy hung out at the penthouse while Emma and I took his car to the "Car Doctor" for an oil change. To pass the time Emma plucked a magazine off the rack and we flipped through the pages admiring the pictures and making up stories about the things we saw. Emma would say, "Oooh, she has a pretty blue dress." or "I think she is a Mommy and has two kids like you!" or "Those cookies look good. We should make 'em tomorrow!" It was so much fun to have one on one time with her, too. I marvel daily on how much she has grown, how big her heart is and simply how beautiful (inside and out) of a person she really is. Of course we have our hourly challenges - she is only 3 1/2 - but moments like these make me feel like Daddy and I are doing something correctly!  ...hard as it is...

HE SPEAKS!!! no joke

Daddy reporting from toddler central:

Thing 1 and Thing 2 absolutely understand the rules changes when mom goes out of town for work.  Rough housing is totally accepted and expected (to burn energy-and both like to be held upside down while I walk around the house chasing the dogs), we will definitely have at least one drive through meal out of 6, we will most assuredly watch Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc., and Emma will command me to play Wii Fit for 45 minutes.  I'm not kidding either.  She chooses the games and makes me do all the work.  Even though the negotiation always starts with "May I please play..."

Emma has also become adept at creating games on the fly; it's awesome to see her imagination and creativity blossoming each day.  Although like any great artist, she has her fair share of flubs.  The lesson in that, is NOT to hold on to a losing idea.

Why do I even mention this?  Because last week, with absolute determination, Emma coerced me into playing a game of what could only be described as pickleball-without the net.  Instead of rackets, we used whatever was clever; a toy frying pan for me, a book for her, and a smooshy Toy Story ball.  Now that seems innocent enough, except that Emma was convinced she had created the next Olympic event and had decided to name it Pissball.  I tried to get video to prove it-believe me we'll get that for the archives-but she proved to nimble for me.   No phonetic magic could undo what she had done.  As much as I tried to steer it closer to "pushball" or "passball" she just yelled louder - "PISSBALL, YAAAYYYY!!!!!"

Needless to say, I loved every minute of it.

Today, we had a great day of trackbuilding, painting, chasing each other, and stomping around outside with our snowboots in the last of the melting snowpack.  We watched Toy Story in the van as I drove through different neighborhoods scoping out their potential.  I watched Ben eat only the breading of 4 mcnuggets, and emma dissect a snackwrap piece by piece as if it were surgery.  Ben spent the afternoon (post nap) destroying the train tracks, running around screamlaughing babblegoofing, chasing his trains around on the carpet, and of course, ending it with tortellini for dinner.  (I dont blame him at all)  It was a normal Mr. Mom weekend.  And then it happened.

While carrying him into the bedroom to change into pj's, I was telling him how much daddy loved him, and once he was standing in front of me on the dresser he looked me square in the eye and said "Dah-deeeeee. I. Low. yooooooooooo." and then proceeded to hi five and fist bump me.  I was jumping up and down and he was grinning from ear to ear.  Em walked in saying "benny said Daddy!!" We all smiled, and then fistbumped our way into the living room to watch Nemo...

Owie

Thoughts become things. How many times have I preached this to myself and to anyone within earshot?

Tonight I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. The kids were still eating the last bit of their meals and Daddy was in the bedroom doing some homework. We have an opening from the kitchen to the dining room and I can easily see the diners and pass food back and forth, etc. Tonight I glanced through the opening and saw Benny stuffing his Barilla protein spaghetti (...at least he is getting some protein!) into his mouth and I thought, "I hope he doesn't choke as neither of us are sitting with him." Twenty seconds later the kid starts gagging. I looked over and saw his dilemma and sped out of the kitchen and around the corner faster than I have moved in years. Daddy heard the gag and was running down the hall in time to see me WIPE OUT hard core and end up on my back sprawled out on the floor. Meanwhile, Benny's body did what it was supposed to do by hacking up the piece and he was totally fine. Mommy? Not so much. I was laughing so hard from the fall but crying hard at the same time from the pain. I landed mostly on my arm, hyper extending my elbow and tweaking my neck. I, too, am fine, just a little sore. But my abs stills hurt from laughing and Daddy hasn't stopped laughing at the image and that was two hours ago. It's all fun and games at the Batter home, folks!

Our pizza party was a great success last night. The kids went crazy in the bedroom all evening while the adults enjoyed an evening of socializing in the living room. They barely came out of the room except for a quickie slice of pizza.  I have no clue how they passed the 2 and 1/2 hours but there were tons of screams of joy coming out of each and every kid's mouth and only a few tears when the girls wouldn't let poor Benny play.

No boys allowed.

Emma still enjoys riding in the cart at BJs as she gets to sit up front next to Benny in the wide seat. That is going to have to stop soon - which is a shame because I can get through the store lickity split when I have both of the kids trapped! Today I pretty much doubled over in pain as I aggravated an old hernia attempting to remove her from the cart. Getting her in is no problem because she can bend her knees and push off (that is where we yell, "To Infinity and Beyond!). It's the dead weight lifting out that causes my intestines to push through the walls of my stomach and pop out to say hello. Thankfully I have gained 15 lbs since moving to NY but I still wear my old jeans that are way to tight and the way too tight part acts like a binder and keeps that wiggly canal inside. Good times!

Yesterday after preschool I invited 3 of Emma's pals over for a playdate. That equaled 4 three year olds and the siblings, 3 fifteen month to two years (Ben). 7 kids! SEVEN kids! It was the loudest messiest 3 hours the Penthouse has ever witnessed - but I gotta tell ya, we had a blast and both kids crashed hard at 7 pm and slept through the night until about 7:15 this morning. If the lady downstairs doesn't petition to get us kicked out, I may have to make this a bi-weekly event:  a) for the sleep part and b) because it became glaringly obvious that Ben has entered the "That is my train and DON'T YOU DARE touch it or I will screech like a girl" phase and could use a little more exposure to kids his age to learn how to share.

We must be feeling pretty social as tonight 4 more kiddos and their parents are coming over for a pizza party. This is an all girl group of kids - it's no wonder Benny has a girlie holler. The poor kids needs some boy buddies!

Baby Pteradactyl

Everything in the past is "yesterday" to Emma. For example, "Hey Mommy, Jack was Spiderman for Halloween yesterday." or "We read that book yesterday!" (but really it was last Summer) or even "Mommy, we should go to Gramma Lou's house. We haven't been there since yesterday." (Meaning Christmas.)

She is also deaf. I think. Daddy doesn't. I don't really... But there are three determinations:
1) She really is deaf. 2) Her ears are so very clogged from the great nonantibiotic mommy stinks debacle. and 3) She uses "What?" (every three freakin' seconds) like most children her age use "Why?" (which she, by the way NEVER uses.) Daddy thinks #3, I think it may be a combo platter of #2 and #3. Awesome.

Benjamin is currently OBSESSED with hitches, as in hook this freight car on the back of this train for me RIGHT NOW and then FREAK out when it becomes unhooked. And, hook this trailer up to the back of this Little People's Car and then SCREAM like a girl when it becomes unhooked... You get the picture. And, when the kid screams - Academy style - it is ear drum splitting. Maybe I should add #4 to the top - Emma is deaf because Ben won't stop screeching.

'atta boy, Ben.

The other day at Walmart we had some cold weather time to kill, so we let the kids lead the way walking all over the store. We made our way to the toy department and Ben stopped at the end of the "boy's" aisle, took a look down the aisle, decided, "Nope, not interested." and kept walking. He then stopped at the end of the girlie pink aisle, had a look, then decided, "Yep, this is what I was looking for." He walked up to the Barbies and was picking them up, touching the dresses and the hair and the shoes. Daddy said, "Umm, Ben, you are starting to worry me." To which Ben "answered" by taking a particularly provocatively dressed Barbie and placing his mouth on her giant boobies. I told Daddy he had nothing to worry about.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.

Sooooo, those of you who are parents, I have something to tell you that you may not know. OUR CHILDREN LIE TO US!

Okay, so my kids are 2 and 3. But they still LIE.

Case in point. All week Emma has been, "I feel fine, Mommy. I'm better now."

And, all week Ben has been fun and sweet and adorable and his happy go lucky self. We took him to the Pediatrician for his two year "Well Visit" today and this is what we heard, "Good God, what is the matter with his neck??" Or something similar to that, the quotes are misleading, but I had an honest to goodness WTF (as opposed to WTH) moment. The Doc swooped in and felt his glands then swabbed my perfect little happy boy's throat and, yep, you guessed it, STREP.

He is now on his first day of the anti-biotic that I so easily dismissed earlier this week that I so absolutely thought my daughter did not need. Turns out, yep, donkey-mom (i.e.giant jackass) she probably needed it, but it is now too far along in her and her little body must fight it on her own.

Sometimes I am a GREAT mom. Sometimes not so much.

Today I am grateful for the pediatric well-visit system that asks us to have our children attend the doctor for certain visits at certain times in their lives.

Lesson learned?

"Where does ___ come from?"

As I am sick and tired (literally) and sick and tired (figuratively) of reporting on sick and tired kids, this post is dedicated entirely to non-sick issues. Hoo-freakin'ray!

Milk - I have purchased my last gallon of regular Vitamin D enriched milk ever. For 2 1/2 years now, I have been buying 2 different kinds of milk to satisfy the needs of my family. As Benny is now 2 years old, the folks with all the "nutritional answers" say it is now okay to give him 2% milk. I was sad for about 6 seconds about my little boy growing up, then I got over myself and was happy that I didn't have to lug 2 gallons of milk up the steps to the Penthouse.

As you all know, Benny loves to grab our hands and lead us to whatever it is he wants. The other day Emma grabbed my hand and lead me across the room. When I asked her what she was doing, she answered that she wanted me to get something for her. I reminded her that she had "words" she could use to ask me and she thought about that for a second and then said, "Oh yeah."

I unhooked Emma's booster chair from my dining room chair for the last time this past week, cleaned it up and put it in storage. I do not ever plan on using it again, so if you know of anyone who could use the best investment ever (high chair/booster chair), it is in excellent condition and I'll happily pass it forward. Again, being the sentimental fool I am, I was sad for about 7 seconds that my little girl is growing up, then she started whining about this or that and I was reminded she is still my baby girl at heart.

We made our weekly visit to BJs today and as we were finishing paying I said, "That was fast, huh? Peace out, BJs!" To which Emma replied at the top of her voice for all the employees and customers to enjoy, "PEACE OUT, BJS! TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!" Except it sounded more like "to infinity and Bayonne" - a small town in New Jersey, my little East Coast kiddo.

Speaking of BJs... their pizza stinks. Costco had the BEST pizza. It was perfectly priced, easy to pop in the oven, and yummy for economy pizza. BJ's pizza is from Pizzeria UNO and it just doesn't compare. Boo. That being said, I bought it again today and baked it up for lunch. My kids ate it right down (well, Benny ate the super spicy pepperoni and left the rest for the dogs - go figure) and I gotta tell you, there was perfect 100% uber silence in my home for at least 10 minutes while they were munching. If that is what it takes to quiet the little turkeys down for a meal, I will happily serve the crappy econo pizza.

More food news... I love the Trader Joe's Multigrain Flaxseed Rice Crackers. They are baked in a light soy sauce and are a great source of Omega 3s. AND, Ben will actually eat them as I discovered yesterday. The problem is, he still doesn't digest SOY very well, and although he doesn't break out in a rash anymore, soy gives him soupy poops.  Combine that with the mini box of raisins he ate yesterday for a snack, and we had a lovely curry raisin stew surprise in his diaper. Aren't you glad you read my journal?

Finally for now... Emma is in a "Where do/does ____ come from?" phase. As in, "Where does broccoli come from?" Broccoli comes from a seed planted in the ground. "Where does the seed come from?" The seed comes from special broccoli that makes new seeds to grow in the ground... HUH? She was satisfied with that answer, true or not, I have nary a clue. I am guessing I am going to need an iphone sooner than later so we can google together anytime anywhere to find the real answers. Today's question was easier, "Where does the snow come from?" I told her the clouds and she was fine with that. Now that I think about it, that's not necessarily true, but for now... it will have to do.

High five

Well, Emma was fine this entire day - back to her old sassy self even though she woke up at 5am and didn't go back to sleep. She had a great time in preschool and played the day away nicely with Ben all afternoon. She ate a full dinner signaling her appetite is back and barely complained when at 6:30pm I suggested she go lay down in her bed where I told her stories for about 15 minutes before I saw her eyes flutter shut.

That was then... For the past three hours she has been crying out in her sleep. I felt her head at one point and she was sweaty but cold, I thought maybe she broke another fever but then again she was covered up with way too many blankets, so maybe she was just sweaty. She did not poop today and seems to be occasionally crying out / writhing so I think she has a belly ache. She knows I have to take Ben to the pediatrician for his 2 year well visit tomorrow and she doesn't want to have to go for a check up herself so she puts on a brave face. I can't figure out this cold that has a hold of her but from what I have been reading, this year has not only been a bad year for snow, but colds and flu, as well. It is definitely not the flu, but what is it? Is tonight's problem simply constipation?

We put Benny to bed at 7:15 tonight, his usual time. The little bugger just hung out in his crib wide awake until after 9pm. I am sure his sister's random cries out didn't help, but he never cried out, just rolled around trying to find a comfy position. He had a train in bed with him and every time I went in to soothe Emma, he was playing with that darn train in the dark. I am pretty sure we have a future Sir Topham Hat on our hands. At one point I leaned over his crib rail to give him a smooch and tell him how much I loved him and he went off on a 20 second diatribe on God only knows what, but it was the cutest darn jibberjabber I ever did hear.

Needless to say. she will be coming with me to the doctor tomorrow so I can query the doc after Benny's visit.

To end on a happy note, Benny is "high five" obsessed these days. Daddy taught him a new trick, the 'ole "fist bump" so now as soon as I say, "Benny, high five!" He comes over, high fives me, then immediately does the fist bump. It is ridiculous and cute and silly and he is so proud of it.

La la la la, Elmo's World...

Mr. Noodle is occupying my children for a few minutes so I thought I would try an in general catch up.

Since we have last spoken, I have traveled 4950 miles within 36 hours. I got to see a very dear friend and her beautiful children and do the fastest catch-up on Earth. I breathed for Sally Field and put a bunch of words in the mouths of back ground actors. My bestie and I raided my old Burbank Tangerine tree with stealth like superpowers and I am now in possession of a month's worth of yummy fruit which made it through the TSA screeners without trouble. (I will never understand their rhyme or reason.) I shoveled 14 inches of ice and snow off my deck so that when we were hit with inches of icy rain last night it wouldn't collapse my patio furniture. I wrestled with Benny on the deck before and during said shoveling. I cleaned the penthouse top to bottom and within 12 hours it is a mess again. I nursed a sick little girl seemingly back to health (fingers crossed - she is her old sassy self this morning after breaking fevers 3 times last night... More laundry at $1.75 a pop. Oi.).

My fabulous hubby did a great job caring for the snot noses while I was away. He even baked me a peanut butter chocolate cake with "I Love You" written in chocolate chips on top at the suggestion of Emma, who in her swollen gland sickness helped him make it. It was delicious and calorie filled. I forewent lunch yesterday so I didn't feel so guilty eating it. I even tried working out to the Insanity dvds that my girlfriend gave me, but the folks living under us didn't like that too much and Benny wanted in on the cardio action which made it next to impossible to complete (hence the shoveling instead!).

Emma is now singing, "M i c k e yyyy, M o u s eeeeee" at the top of her lungs. I think she is on the mend. I feel the blessings and am very grateful!