Saturday, May 27, 2006
Sophia - your average three year old
Isaac and Soph had a well check-up this past Thursday. Brian takes the kids for their shots. I admit it - I am a mess when it comes to shots. I can't stand holding their little arms down or any of that traumatic stuff. Brian's calm, cool and doesn't mind taking over this typically mother-zone in parenting. (Poopy diapers are another story!) So, the doctor weighed the kids - Sophia is the perfect average weight for a THREE year old. She's only 22 months. Brian forgot how old our baby girl was and had to call me. I honestly stopped counting the months with Sophie by the end of my pregnancy with Jack so Soph's been "nearly two" with me for atleast half a year. Other than the minor issue of knowing our child's age, the check-up went well. The kids are healthy and though Sophia is a big girl on the scale she doesn't look that big. I mean, my girl is chubby, but for the most part she's "thick"...picking her up is like picking up lead. The little girl doesn't look nearly as heavy as she is. Just remember to lift Sophia with your knees (Bri's says "legs") and you'll be fine.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Millions of Milestones
Our little baby is getting so big - too fast in my opinion. Last night Brian felt a tooth about to poke through Baby Jack's gums. I'm not sure what made Bri feel around in his mouth, but that's just another strange thing we do as parents. By this evening his bottom right tooth is barely visible. He's been amazing this past week. I can't believe he was teething! I guess with the tooth comes the appetite for real food. He literally dives for my dinner plate at night and lets us all know that he wants his place at the dining room table. Tonight, I gave in and let him sample a tiny bit of bread. I remember Brian giving Isaac pizza (of all things!) when he was little. We rediscovered the mushy pizza remains about four hours later still in his mouth. Well, Jack left no evidence whatsoever. The kid likes to eat. I had hoped to postpone starting him on solids until after our big move. We'll see how vocal he gets at dinner tomorrow. Oh, and the amazing baby has started saying "Dada". He's been doing the "dadadadada" for about a week and tonight he has shortened it enough to make us excited and run for the video camera. Of course, the camera battery was extremely low, but I managed to catch atleast a couple "Dada"s before the screen blanked out.
So, Baby Jack is a growing boy. A super easy baby. He has to be with all the competition in this house. Sophie and Isaac play with him but only on their terms. Jack seems to enjoy Soph's baby dolls a lot. The dolls that are bald. He latches onto their heads. Sophia is not so keen on Jack's slobber on her babies. "Bop!!!!" she yells at him and tries to snatch the baby away from him, but the little guy's grasp is surprisingly strong. If Jack gets fussy usually one of the kids will find a baby toy and plop in on him. Isaac loves when Jack has some tummy time. I start Jack out by laying him on his back but the kid rolls over immediately and finds Isaac in the room right away...which isn't difficult since Isaac is usually bouncing off the furniture or flapping some toy around making special sound effects that only a three year old can create.
So, Jack is interacting more and more. Sophia is talking more and more, that is, when I get that binky out of her mouth! I pull the plug from her in one room and she hunts down another binky, or "Bebe" as she calls it, and pops it in. She's a stubborn little thing and the sweetest little girl at the same time. Sophie is our snuggle baby. She loves to be rocked and still plays with her hair to fall asleep. She's in that adorable inbetween age -toddler - not a baby anymore but not a big kid quite yet..Isaac tells her often, "You are a liiiiittle gurl". He has such a Jersey accent, poor thing!
"I-man" (Brian's name for Isaac) is 100% little boy. He loves all his trucks and trains though he isn't very kind to them these days. A couple of weekends ago Brian was watching tv downstairs and left the room to get something but never made it back downstairs (very typical for Bri). A bit later we found Isaac intensely watching a show about train crashes caught on video. The past three plus years of monitoring his television viewing went down the drain in seconds. Now, Isaac sets up his poor Thomas trains and "makes a BIG CRASH with a BIG FIRE and the firemans come and the fire gets BIGGER and BIGGER!!!" And now Isaac argues with me (yes, I try to reason with a three year old) that firemen shoot FIRE on buildings and trains.
As for Brian and I - we have been reduced by three rather small, slightly chubby children to gushy parents that go on and on about their AMAZING children. I have both photos and video clips for all the milestones mentioned above available upon request.
So, Baby Jack is a growing boy. A super easy baby. He has to be with all the competition in this house. Sophie and Isaac play with him but only on their terms. Jack seems to enjoy Soph's baby dolls a lot. The dolls that are bald. He latches onto their heads. Sophia is not so keen on Jack's slobber on her babies. "Bop!!!!" she yells at him and tries to snatch the baby away from him, but the little guy's grasp is surprisingly strong. If Jack gets fussy usually one of the kids will find a baby toy and plop in on him. Isaac loves when Jack has some tummy time. I start Jack out by laying him on his back but the kid rolls over immediately and finds Isaac in the room right away...which isn't difficult since Isaac is usually bouncing off the furniture or flapping some toy around making special sound effects that only a three year old can create.
So, Jack is interacting more and more. Sophia is talking more and more, that is, when I get that binky out of her mouth! I pull the plug from her in one room and she hunts down another binky, or "Bebe" as she calls it, and pops it in. She's a stubborn little thing and the sweetest little girl at the same time. Sophie is our snuggle baby. She loves to be rocked and still plays with her hair to fall asleep. She's in that adorable inbetween age -toddler - not a baby anymore but not a big kid quite yet..Isaac tells her often, "You are a liiiiittle gurl". He has such a Jersey accent, poor thing!
"I-man" (Brian's name for Isaac) is 100% little boy. He loves all his trucks and trains though he isn't very kind to them these days. A couple of weekends ago Brian was watching tv downstairs and left the room to get something but never made it back downstairs (very typical for Bri). A bit later we found Isaac intensely watching a show about train crashes caught on video. The past three plus years of monitoring his television viewing went down the drain in seconds. Now, Isaac sets up his poor Thomas trains and "makes a BIG CRASH with a BIG FIRE and the firemans come and the fire gets BIGGER and BIGGER!!!" And now Isaac argues with me (yes, I try to reason with a three year old) that firemen shoot FIRE on buildings and trains.
As for Brian and I - we have been reduced by three rather small, slightly chubby children to gushy parents that go on and on about their AMAZING children. I have both photos and video clips for all the milestones mentioned above available upon request.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Aspiring Plate Spinner
Okay, okay. So I started this silly blog to keep all family and friends up to date with our ever changing family and I find myself too busy to post all the things I want to. Most days I feel like one of those plate spinners. Ever seen one at the circus or on tv? I think I saw one recently on Sesame Street...you know how it goes...there are pins or whatever that the little guy balances the plates on and then spins them. He gets a few in the air spinning away then has to keep the plates going or they fall and shatter. I don't know why this is so popular as a circus act - what am I saying?!?! I don't know if it is popular at all - ah, my point!...that's motherhood with three kids under three and a half. Multi-tasking the plate spinner style - racing around from plate to plate and then remembering that one plate all the way at the other end of the table (the one that you know you will never reach in time but you try for it anyway). As you save the wobbling plate you realize the plate at the (yet again) opposite end starts to loose balance and down it goes in a dramatic crash.
There are days that Brian opens the front door to a mess of toys, dishes leftover from lunch and a basket of laundry collected before breakfast still waiting at the top of the stairs to be escorted to the basement for a wash, dry and fold, BUT the kids have been kept busy with a game of hide-n-seek and enjoyed an outing to the boardwalk park. I have one end of the motherhood table of tasks spinning away but am watching in horror as the far end of the table of spinning plates- the housework, phone calls to make, errands to run, meals to plan -slow to funny wobbles and begin falling. Ugh.
Other days I greet Brian with a clean house - toys in their baskets in the toy room (the room that toys never seem to want to stay ) laundry done, beds made, and dinner actually started, but low and behold the other end of the table. Plates begin to fall...the kids are bored, picking on each other, and have watched too much tv as I whisked through the house quicker than a Merry Maid.
So, you've heard it here - motherhood is a circus act! I know with more experience and practice I'll be a pro at spinning the loooong table of plates. I admire those women (we all know atleast one) who manages to have a clean house and happy, tended-to children. I have a personal goal to become one of those women. I know it is possible. It just requires focus on ONE table. Atleast, I know it would for me. I don't know how a mom works outside the home, has kids and keeps the house. I know, I know, the husband...Common! Please!!! Only kidding. Brian is wonderful and does way more than most husbands I know of, but still when it comes down to it...when he's out of underwear or work clothes, hmmm...who's fault is it? Ah-huh. "Uh, hey babe, that plate is falling..."
Of course, Brian has his own circus act to perform and in construction his plates are way heavier and way more difficult to balance, let alone keep spinning. For me, if I don't do the dishes at lunch I just have more to do at dinner. If Brian doesn't go to work the bills don't get paid. Hmm, can we say "pressure"? I had a crazy thought the other day - Brian, a mere 26-year-old young man, supports a family of FIVE all on his own. I don't know why that is so shocking to me. I guess that means we're all grown-up. Sigh.
Anyway, I may not be the professional plate spinner I desire to be today. I have a few plates shatter every now and then, but at the end of the day I do manage to have a few plates happily balanced and spinning away. I must admit my life is pretty entertaining. And a tough act to follow.
There are days that Brian opens the front door to a mess of toys, dishes leftover from lunch and a basket of laundry collected before breakfast still waiting at the top of the stairs to be escorted to the basement for a wash, dry and fold, BUT the kids have been kept busy with a game of hide-n-seek and enjoyed an outing to the boardwalk park. I have one end of the motherhood table of tasks spinning away but am watching in horror as the far end of the table of spinning plates- the housework, phone calls to make, errands to run, meals to plan -slow to funny wobbles and begin falling. Ugh.
Other days I greet Brian with a clean house - toys in their baskets in the toy room (the room that toys never seem to want to stay ) laundry done, beds made, and dinner actually started, but low and behold the other end of the table. Plates begin to fall...the kids are bored, picking on each other, and have watched too much tv as I whisked through the house quicker than a Merry Maid.
So, you've heard it here - motherhood is a circus act! I know with more experience and practice I'll be a pro at spinning the loooong table of plates. I admire those women (we all know atleast one) who manages to have a clean house and happy, tended-to children. I have a personal goal to become one of those women. I know it is possible. It just requires focus on ONE table. Atleast, I know it would for me. I don't know how a mom works outside the home, has kids and keeps the house. I know, I know, the husband...Common! Please!!! Only kidding. Brian is wonderful and does way more than most husbands I know of, but still when it comes down to it...when he's out of underwear or work clothes, hmmm...who's fault is it? Ah-huh. "Uh, hey babe, that plate is falling..."
Of course, Brian has his own circus act to perform and in construction his plates are way heavier and way more difficult to balance, let alone keep spinning. For me, if I don't do the dishes at lunch I just have more to do at dinner. If Brian doesn't go to work the bills don't get paid. Hmm, can we say "pressure"? I had a crazy thought the other day - Brian, a mere 26-year-old young man, supports a family of FIVE all on his own. I don't know why that is so shocking to me. I guess that means we're all grown-up. Sigh.
Anyway, I may not be the professional plate spinner I desire to be today. I have a few plates shatter every now and then, but at the end of the day I do manage to have a few plates happily balanced and spinning away. I must admit my life is pretty entertaining. And a tough act to follow.
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