Santa Time

We took both kids to see Santa a couple of weeks ago. Roo kept saying that she was "a little bit scared" so I was assuming that the picture would be of a baby and hysterical little girl. But then Roo saw that Santa had candy canes. Apparently candy takes priority over fear.



Both kids were great and Roo had a chance to tell Santa that she really wanted a bike. He guessed a pink bike with a basket and bell. She immediately corrected him and said "no, no Santa. A ORANGE bike with a PINK basket." My kid is, if nothing else, specific with her requests. So Friday we will know, has Roo been a good enough girl to get the bike of her dreams? Probably.

Big Boy

Cal still has his reflux and since he will officially be 3 months old on Christmas Eve, I am hoping that it eases up soon. Until then we are still visiting the doctor for medication adjustments. We just went last week and the little bugger is 15.6 pounds. Bigger than his Sister was at this age and she was well above average. I guess we grow 'em big.

I am still holding onto hope for a future football scholarship. We shall see...

Fun with Reflux- Cont'd

So, I last left off with today's wardrobe changes. Three to be exact, before I even got downstairs. I know for a fact that he has been changed two more times since. So that is five outfits for today and it is not even one o'clock.

Our lives will continue to be vomit-ful, with no end in sight. His doc says it will be a month or two before we see any real improvement. Until then we will use rice cereal in his bottles, keep giving him Zantac and keep doing laundry. Lots and lots of laundry.

Fun with Reflux

Yep, baby Calvie has reflux. For all of you out there that have experienced this daily challenge with a newborn you understand what a pain it can be. For those of you that haven't experienced I hope you don't ever have to.

Cal isn't as bad as other babies I have known. He doesn't cry hysterically or freak out when he throws up, which makes the whole thing more of a laundry problem than anything else. This morning he went throu

So Many Questions

I remember the days I sat and stared at Roo just waiting for her first word. I now take that all back and wish she could be quiet for 5 minutes so I could think. Horrible to say as a parent, but totally true.

Her latest habit is that when we are in the car and music is playing she asks three essential questions:

1. What song is this Mommy?
2. Who sings it Mommy?
3. Is it a boy or a girl? (pronounced gurl)

Last week we were in the car and she asked all three questions to which I replied with the song's title, artist and gender. Then Roo threw me for a loop by asking, "is she a little gurl Mommy?" To which I replied, "no, she is a big girl, a big Mommy." NOTE: "A big Mommy" in Roo's world these days translates to "adult." Then I made the mistake of saying, "well, maybe she is not a big Mommy, she is just an adult." At that point I opened Pandora's box of questions.

The conversation then went a little like this:
Roo: "I am an adult."
Me: "No honey, you are a kid."
Roo: "No Mommy, I am an adult."
Me: "Really? Do you have a job?"
Roo: "Yep."
Me: "Really? What do you do?"
Roo: "Work."
Me: "What kind of work?"
Roo: "I work on my pink computer." (her Vtech pink computer)
Me: "OK. Well, do you drive?"
Roo: "Yep. Stop driving Mommy and I will show you."
Me: "I don't think your feet can reach the pedals."
Roo: "Yes they can! Let me show you."
Me" "How about later? I need to get you to school"
Roo: "OK Mom, but one day I will drive and you will sit in the backseat, OK?"

I guess she is right, that can totally happen. Visions of Driving Miss Daisy were in my head the rest of the day. She sure is cute, but she sure asks a lot of questions.

Frustration & Chaos

In an effort to try to stay more connected with my blog, I am going to try to write something every week. Since I am not a full time stay at home Mom, that means my updates will not always be about my kids. So, if you are reading this because you just want kid updates feel free to skim through any commentary that focuses on me. Regardless of what I end up writing it will ultimately somehow tie back to the kids, because after all, I am their Mom.

Today I find myself at a client meeting at 7:30 AM (had to leave the house at 5). The truth is that I should not even be here. I am on my 8th week of a maternity leave stint that (let's be honest) I didn't really get. Who goes to work after only having had a baby 8 weeks ago? Me. Do I like it? No. Am I mad and disappointed? Yes. Am I the main income earner for my family? Yes. Therefore I find myself in NJ at a client meeting.

The person I should feel really bad for is my husband. Although we have our nanny showing up around 8:30, my absence still requires him to feed the baby before the crack of dawn while also trying to get three year old Roo up and ready for school. Whining will take place, lunch will need to be packed, breakfast made, outfits picked out and they will need to be out the door for preschool by 8 AM. All before the nanny arrives. The first 2-3 hours of our day is usually the toughest and now my poor hubby has to do it all on his own. Another reason to be frustrated about being at work today.

So, it is what it is. I will drink as much caffeine as possible so that I can stay awake and sound intelligent because I have to. I will pump prior to my meeting in the public bathroom since am trying to continue to breast feed my kid because that is what I am supposed to do. Then once my meeting is over I will rush home to see my kiddos and give them a great big hug because I want to.

A Long Time

It's been nine months. A LONG nine months and a lot has happened. The biggest thing of course is the birth of Roo's little brother, baby Calvie. Our newest edition arrived the evening of September 24th and life has been complete chaos since. You know when they say it is twice as hard with two kids? They lied. It is WAY harder than that. Regardless, we are enjoying ourselves and our new expanded family. Welcome Cal!

Disney

At the end of February Roo and I went to visit “Miss. Tracey” in Orlando. She talked about it for weeks before we went, telling all of her teachers “I go see princesses.” It was a girl’s only trip and Roo received the princess treatment the whole time. We had a blast.

Upon arrival, Tracey’s nanny picked us up at the airport (along with her girls Ella Grace & Anna Catherine) and we headed to the barn where Tracey was having a riding lesson. Up until this point Reagan has been scared of horses whenever she has gotten close to them (I am assuming she is overwhelmed by their size). We watched Tracey ride Zee, her horse, for a little bit and then Ella Grace walked us up and down the outdoor paddocks to visit all the other horses at the barn. Roo was actually excited to see them and not scared at all. Once we had completed our walk, we wandered around the barn grounds visiting all the barn cats and dogs until Tracey’s lesson was done. Then Tracey brought Zee over to meet us and Roo didn’t even flinch. It was so cool watching her get over a fear. She even helped groom Zee’s legs, neck and cleaned the tack, all three girls did. Very cute to watch the three little busy bee helpers.

On day 2 we headed to Disney. Before heading out all the girls had their hair and makeup done, then each got to pick out a princess tiara to wear. Tracey had given Roo a Cinderella doll as a gift, so of course she picked the Cinderella tiara. These girls were ready to go. Once we got to Disney, the first thing we did was show Roo Cinderella’s castle, then we headed to meet the princesses. Roo got to meet Cinderella, Belle and Princess Aurora. She was so happy, but I think a little overwhelmed. Nonetheless, she greeted each princess with a smile, got a hug and then got her picture taken. She felt like a princess and I even got her a princess autograph book for all the signatures. Next stop- meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I though she’d freak because every time she gets up close to the characters she starts shaking, but she was so happy to meet Mickey and Minnie she blew them kisses. The last characters we met were Tigger, Pooh & Eyore, that is when she freaked out a little bit. It was way past nap time and at that point I think she was just done. In fact, she fell asleep in my arms as we were in line for “It’s A Small World.” We also rode a couple of rides, but with three kids under 5 it takes a LONG time to get around the park. At the end of the day we headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to stay overnight.

The lodge was cool and we had all kinds of safari animals right outside our window, but let’s just say our stay was less than great (I think Tracey is still arguing with Guest Relations at Disney about it). Besides the room accommodations being less than impressive and horrible food, Reagan woke up at 1 AM throwing up all over me and Anna broke out in some kind of crazy skin rash. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We spent the rest of day 2 recovering at Tracey’s house, Reagan slept most of the day. So unfortunately we didn’t get to go to The Animal Kingdom. Maybe next time.

On Day 3 Reagan announced that she wanted to meet Curious George so we headed to Universal. We got to see a couple of shows- Barney and the animal show, but the biggest thrill for Reagan was meeting The Man in The Yellow Hat. There was a performance and then kids could line up and meet several different characters. She was so excited to meet Curious George, but I think the actual size of his head freaked her out. Thank God for The Man in The Yellow Hat, he helped her recover and we got a couple of great pictures. She is still talking about meeting them.

Day 4 and it was time to go home. We all had a great weekend with very few complaints. Reagan was sad to go home. In fact once we got home and had to get back to our regular routine on Tuesday she freaked. During breakfast she kept asking Kerry, “I go Disney?” Kerry said “yes, some day, but not today” she threw herself on the floor and preceded to cry inconsolably for what seemed like fifteen minutes. I haven’t seen her do that in a long time. She finally recovered and we went on with our day as usual. It is a good thing my best friend from college lives in Orlando, because I think we are going to have to go back pretty soon.

Ice Skating

This year (courtesy of Auntie Court), Reagan has officially taken up ice-skating. Not consistently, but I think we have gone 5-6 times this winter and Roo LOVES it. She has her own pink skates (with a coordinating monogrammed skate bag of course), and a couple of skating outfits. She only lasts on the ice about: 30 most times and if I am on the ice with her, forget it. So typically if Court is around I watch with pleasure from the waiting room. She has gotten pretty good and for the most part can “march” on her own for a few feet at a time. She could probably go further if she wanted to, but she is only 2 ½, I guess my expectations can’t really be that high. Maybe next year she will be ready for lessons…what am I getting myself into?

More Firsts

So my New Year's resolution of being better about updating this hasn't really become a reality, but the truth is, I am doing the best I can. And on that note, here is my latest update:

For most of my two year old’s life I have eagerly anticipated most of her “firsts.” Sitting up, rolling over, first tooth, first foods, crawling, walking and first words. One particular first seems to have escaped my attention…potty training. I can’t say that I dread this particular first, but I do think maybe I have been avoiding it. You sort of get used to diapers…especially the smell (although I am not sure my husband would agree). Plus, in my opinion as a family on the go, I find diapers somewhat convenient and am dreading the need to constantly stop for potty breaks. So, it is not like I am avoiding it, I am just procrastinating a bit.

But I have soon discovered that daycare slows for no one. Their job is to help your kid develop and potty training is no exception. So potty training has commenced at daycare and we have begun to follow a sort of regimen of our own at home. But, clearly my child is not all that interested.

She has a potty, two in fact. Elmo stays downstairs and her singing potty stays upstairs. Bribes have been purchased—jelly beans (for when she goes potty), supplemented with occasional chocolate, marshmallows (for when she tells us she has a “poopy”) and stickers for her “rewards” chart. In addition we have several sources of toddler reading placed in our bathrooms for Roo’s potty entertainment. Always present are Elmo’s ABC’s, Lila Ladybug and Moo, Ba, La, La, La (which by the way is almost ALWAYS requested).

This potty training takes a lot of patience (which by the way I don’t have) and time (which I don’t have much of either). Roo is always saying “I do it” and it takes what seems like an eternity for her to pull down her pants. And if I dare try to do it for her, a full on toddler breakdown begins and there is not a snowball’s chance in hell that she will try “going.” So I am stuck in potty limbo, trying to patient and encouraging, yet ready to pull my hair out. And this is only the beginning…

The Big Day

Roo had her 2nd birthdy party on September 26th and we all had a blast. At least looking back. I think the two weeks leading up the event almost killed us, but on the day of, all went smoothly.

A bunch of stuff arrived on Friday and everything else had been purchased in advance, so we were as prepared as we could've been. Activities included a Tigger & Pooh bounce house (of course featuring "Roo"), a spin art machine, bubble machine, pizza & cake.

The bouncy house went up around 9:30 AM and Roo was fascinated by it. She and Auntie Court watched it go up and couldn't wait to get inside to check it out. The company didn't even come and pick it up until after 5 (past the original reservation time), so we all got plenty of bounce time in (even the adults). If anyone in CT needs or wants a bouncy house, check these guys out: www.superfuninflatables.com, there were GREAT!


Grandpa & Grandma McCoy let Roo open her presents before the guests arrived. She loves "my baby," but refuses to give her a name. I think she walked around with "my baby" and her new baby stroller for the next week. She wore a path in our hardwood floors.


Guests arrived promptly and most of them headed straight to the bounce house. Daddy and Uncle Anthony also go some adult bounce time.

Uncle Anthony and his daughter Marissa arriving.

Beckett and Corey, friends from school.

Roo, Beckett and Madeline having a blast.

Roo & PJ.

"Bounce-a, bounce-a, bounc-a!"

Miss. Ashley, Roo's teacher arrived early and along with Auntie Court helped supervise the bounce house. Thank you both! Not sure what we would've done without you. Grandma McCoy helped with the spin art machine, which was a great activity for toddlers. I bought smocks at an art supply store and each child was able to make their own creation, just by squeezing paint. Super easy for everyone.

Bounce house chaos.

The second favorite part was the pizza & ice cream cake. Everyone gathered on our back porch, where we had kid's tables and chairs set up. All the kids and parents were able to fit and it was really fun watching them. Kerry even got on the roof to take pictures and thankfully didn't fall off.

Pizza party.

Creative cake courtesy of Daddy.

Yummy ice cream cake.

Once the kids started leaving, most of the neighborhood families hung out, played in the bounce house and drank a couple of beers until nap time. Then I had to drag Roo upstairs reluctantly because she looked like she was going to pass out since her nap was way overdue.

We even wore Roo's friends out. Sleepy James.

Birthday girl only slept for an hour and as soon as she got up looked out the window to make sure her bounce house was still there. We played in it until it go too cold and had to go inside.

Bouncing with Mommy.

After nap bouncing.

By the end of the day, with an exhausted Miss. Roo.

Great day overall, and I am so overwhelmed by the generosity our friends and family..thank you all for coming and helping to keep the toddler chaos to a minimum. I kept saying my only goals were for Roo to have a great day and to wear out her friends. Mission accomplished!

26 Days Until...

Miss. Roo turns two and 22 days until her birthday party. All the arrangements are made and Daddy did such a great job designing her invite I had to blow it up bigger for everyone to see. The Tigger and Pooh bouncy house is reserved, tables, chairs, spin art machine, coordinating plates and napkins have all been purchased. Not much left to do but distribute the invites, order decorations and a cake. Should be a blast and since Roo is obsessed with bouncing ("bounce-a, bounce-a Mommy)" the bouncy house should be a big hit. Can't wait!

Peas for Breakfast

Yep! Strange, but true. Miss Roo requested frozen peas for breakfast the other morning. She is a big fan. Of course she only ate 3 and then "all done Mommy." I am going to just keep pushing the veggies and hope for the best. If that means she wants them for breakfast, who am I to argue?

Spots!

Roo is very into what she calls "buggies". All bugs--flies, bees, crickets, but most of all ladybugs. Which is a good think because her Auntie Court is all about ladybugs, so they can bond over their little red spotted friends. Seriously though, Reagan has a whole ladybug rain outfit. The whole kit and caboodle--coat, boots and umbrella. Ask our friend Caryn, who go to witness the fashionista live and in person when we went to breakfast together on Saturday.

On the same ladybug subject, there is a song that plays on the radio called "Ladybug Without Spots." Roo loves to sing and every time she hears the song, at the appropriate moment she yells "SPOTS!" This year for Halloween she is even going to appear as her favorite superhero--Ladybug Girl (seriously, this is the title of her favorite book).

Tonight, Daddy went to softball and I got solo Roo time, which is perfect timing since I have to leave on business tomorrow. We executed our typical bedtime rituals, with the addition of a visit to Roo's new potty. Dinner, wash hands, try to go potty, wash hands, argue about getting into the bathtub, finally get into bathtub, splash Mommy and make a mess, out of tub, brush teeth, get jammies on, watch Miss. Spider, argue about story time/bedtime and then FINALLY succumb to Mommy's wishes and head to the bedroom for story time & bedtime. Quite exhausting and some days it feels like the whole thing last for hours, even though it may only last forty-five minutes. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate every second, even as we are doing battle with each other.

Tonight's story time included Toddler Animal Friends, I Got A Potty and Curious George Goes To The Movies. All big hits. As Roo's eyes started to droop, she reached up and touched my forehead and said very sweetly, "Mommy spots." I thought I had something on my face, then I realized she was talking about my freckles. I giggled and said, "yes, Mommy has spots. They're called freckles." Roo said very carefully, "Freckles. Mommy's freckles." Then she broke me out of our sweet spell by saying "Mommy Story Time!"

Every day brings a new discovery for Roo and reminds me to laugh more and try to enjoy these little moments. I know they will all be gone before I know it. My only goal is to live in the moment and enjoy every second.

My Sweet Girl

This weekend has been a whirlwind, and a rainy one at that. Roo is pretty active (we joke that we need to exercise her like one of our dogs), so rainy days are not our friends. Saturday we ran a bunch of errands (I am terribly behind) and played around the house. Sunday morning was a bit rainy, but the sun finally came out in time for Reagan's nap. Of course.

After napping, I decided our best bet was the pool, even though I knew it would be cold. So we packed a bag, sunscreened up and headed over. While there, we bumped into a family we know and the kids began playing a "push" game. I have no idea what the heck it was, but suddenly every kid, regardless of age, was playing it in the shallow end. It was actually kind of funny. One kid would run up to another and say "be careful, don't push me" and then without even being touched fling themselves backward into the pool and launch into a hysterical fit of laughter. Never seen it before, and probably won't see it again. Odd kid thing.

Once the lifeguards called adult swim, Roo and I headed to the picnic tables for a snack of veggie stix (her current favorite snack) and then hit the playground. Hard. After about 45 minutes, Roo started begging for more food and I figured it was time to head home. We made a fruitless effort to rinse off the dirt and wood chips from our clothes and feet and then started off to the parking lot. Roo ran up to me with her little arms outstretched calling "up Mommy, up." I scooped her up and started walking. After we got a few feet she took her little hands and put them on both sides of my cheeks, patting them. saying "My Mommy" in a very loving, adorable voice. Then she placed her head in the crook of my neck and started making sweet little noises of love and comfort (I like to refer to it as her purr). I am sometimes so amazed by how much love these little people can give, it is endless and unconditional--and the best thing ever.

On The Road Again...

I have successfully avoided out of state travel without Roo for a few months now, but the travel game is back on. Chicago a couple of weeks ago. NW Arkansas this week, Neenah, WI next week. Some days it is easier to leave my little girl behind, others not so much. She is growing like a week and every day is an adventure. This morning I wanted to snatch her up and bring her with me (and ask Kerry, I was seriously contemplating it), but let her sleep. My team in Arkansas has gotten to know her over the last two years and just like they consider me family, they also consider Roo family so they love to see her whenever they can. She has made it down here twice and I need to sneak her down again before she turns 2 and I have to buy her a seat. Next time.

Hopefully all will go well with my flights and I will be home late on Thursday so I can give Roo a big hug when she wakes up in the morning. Just in time to see her do "jumpy jumpies."

Chatty Cathy

Or chatty Reagan in this case. Wow, is our kid talking up a storm! She is trying her best to speak entire sentences, but can usually only string 1-2 words together. But we can understand her more than ever, and she never stops talking...or giggling.

Tonight we were in the bathtub I asked "how was your day?" - much like I do every night. And just like she does every other night she starts naming all of her friends and teachers from "school". Then we talk about playing "owside" and art projects like "cowor" (as in outside and color for those of you who don't speak toddler). She also made a request for 'kayons" (bathtub crayons), but since the cleaning lady was just here she was promptly denied ("mommy lost the crayons honey, I'll look for them tomorrow").

Every night we also sing a song (or 2, or 3). Big faves include "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" , "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "A, B, C, D". Tonight was a big alphabet night, but Roo was adamantly independent, unlike other nights, requesting that I not accompany her. In fact her exact words were "No Mommy, No. I wan sing mself." Pretty impressive communication for a 22 month old. And no I am not spelling incorrectly, just trying to quote my kid. It was cute though, every time I would try to interrupt her she'd say the same thing, "no mommy, no. I wan sing mself." And she pretty much did the whole song. She knows many of the letters and for the ones she doesn't she just tries to say it and kinds makes a phonetic mumble.

I am sure it won't be long before she knows all the words, and as much as I love to hear her sing-songy voice, I am sure eventually the repetitive nature of the songs will drive me crazy. For now, I am just happy to enjoy them.

Poop Issues

It is official, my kid is afraid of poop.

The other day I was giving her a bath. I asked her to stand up so I could properly get her backside. She looked at me and said "I poot". Keep in mind she says this all the time, with no clear deliverable, so I ignored the warning. Then my dear girl proceeded to poop in the tub. I though we were through this stage, but apparently not. Before us floated three decently sized poop balls (sorry, not sure what else to call them).

Now what was I supposed to do? If I let her get out of the tub, it was sure to end in a wet running toddler, who would eventually slip and fall. Too much chaos for me.

I called for Kerry and as Reagan looked down and saw the "poots" floating towards her, she panicked. I mean full-on, toddler screeching panic. You would've thought they were going to bite her. I laughed at first and then realized I had a poop dirty child clinging to me and we needed to get this taken care of and get us back on track to storytime. Fast.

We did the usual. Drained the tub (while one of us occupied our energetic child), cleaned the tub, refilled the tub, plopped our child back in and resumed bath time. What a hassle.

Moral of the story, listen to my kid if she says ANYTHING remotely sounding like "poot".

Obviously Not Hard Enough

OK, OK, I said I was working on it. This blogging stuff is a lot of work.

Roo has been a blast this Summer and she is really getting the whole talking thing. One of the things that amazes me the most is how she seems to automatically properly conjugate a verb. Have no idea how or why it happens. The other day as we were getting ready for bed, Reagan decided to place a book on her rug and then lay on it, belly down. Kerry asked her if she was surfing and she looked at him and said "I surf". How did she know that she shouldn't say "I surfing"? Crazy.

Roo has also become slightly obsessed with Auntie Court. She goes through her phases though. We had to go to DC for a family funeral (my Godfather) and Court met us down there. We have been trying to get her to say Courtney's name for a while now and it always came out "Corey" or "Corky". Well, she finally got it. Once she figured out she was saying it right she wouldn't stop. Every time she saw her Auntie she would yell "COURT" at the top of her lungs. On the drive back to CT, we followed Court for a little while, then lost her. Then we caught up again, as we drove past her, I said "look, there's Auntie Court.", Reagan began yelling "COURT" at the top of her lungs and looking out the window, well past the point where we actually passed Auntie Court. Have to say it was sweet that she was so excited, but slightly annoying for the rest of us as fellow passengers.

Guess that is all for now. I again sign of, pledging to be better about this, but we shall see.

Working On It

OK, I admit it. I am a bad Mom. Well, actually I think I am a fairly good Mom with an overfull schedule and too many commitments, which then makes me feel like a bad Mom. Which brings me to the fact that I have not updated this blog in over a month. Bad Mom.

So much has happened, I don't know where to start. It has gotten so bad that I keep notes on my iPhone so that I don't forget topics to post. It is so frustrating that I started this damn thing and promised myself that I would do the due diligence of updating it in an effort to be a detailed baby book and here I am. Behind. Dear Amy was right again. She warned me.

In addition to not updating this as often as I should, I have come to realize that many entries are about me. My life with Roo for sure, but focused on me. Not sure what I expected, that Roo would actually write the entries? Believe me, she has tried. She is a big fan of the computer, but truly not capable. Maybe I should change the address and name? I am a very uncreative person, so not sure what I'd call it. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

In the meantime, here are a few Roo topics I will get to eventually: Our Greek Festival adventures, family work trip to Arkansas, Roo's school schedule adjustment, our visit with the Hesbergs, trips back and forth to NJ to visit my sick Mother, Memorial Day visit from Auntie Court, "I sorry Reilly", first year's trip to the beach (and pool), Roo's favorite water spot and picking Mommy's "matos". Not in that exact order, but that is the beginning of my list.

I am sure no one reads this thing, but I will continue to pretend that they do and make yet another commitment to update more often. Bad Mommy or not.