Thanks!

Den got home on Sat. night--by a hair. His flight from Toyko was cancelled and he found out as he was headed out the door of his hotel. I found out, as I was getting ready for bed at about the same time as Den discovered the change. I didn't know he knew and he probably figured I'd find out soon enough. Flight from LAX to CVG left him with about 12 minutes to make his connection. At least one redeeming feature of being a frequent traveler is that they held the flight for him and literately closed the door of the plane behind him as he got on.

Eddie was most excited to pick him up at the airport--never mind that it was to be the third night in a row of staying up way past his bedtime. We put him in his pjs and got him all ready for bed and then Eddie and I set out for the airport. While Den made his connection, his luggage did not.

Both sets of g'parents put in more hours of baby sitting than I think they anticipated--and both Den and I are immensely grateful. It's hard to find someone you feel comfortable leaving your 5 month old and energetic 2.5 year old with and g'parents, even if they don't do things just as we do, they care for them with as much love and affection and we love them for it.

Hold onto your hat--Den left at 5 this morning for another trip--he is still in the US and only one time zone away. And he'll be back tmr. I had a solo bedtime tonight--no nanny, no friends or family. Of any time of day, it's bedtime I dread the most. When Josie can fall asleep on her own, it will be easier--stories for each of the kids and then bed...tonight I bopped between the two rooms, responding to whoever could scream the louded and longest. I'm wondering how long until Josie makes her next curtain call...

These are from (mostly) Den giving Josie a bath a couple nights back. I had a hard time chosing which to include. Enjoy your photos, Den.





G'parents Wisc. just left. Again, I am without many pictures. I think I will start mandating that they and Den take more responsibility for the photographing, as I keep getting told to leave the room by Eddie, or requesting no pictures.

On the Phone

We are finally at that point in Den's trip that we can count the hours til he gets home. Well, technically we could from when he left, but it would have been a lot of hours.

Eddie's latest thing is making his own pb and j. He can now open the pantry door, even tho' the handle is up high. Note: He can also reach 1/2 way back on the counter and is tall enough to hold the regular handrail on the stairs. Anyway, so we have peanut butter with a red top and pb with a blue top. Eddie always insists on the blue top, so we've got this wee little bit left in the red top I'm trying to figure out how to use.

He can't figure out how to get the pb out of the container and I give him a demitasse spoon to get the jelly. He usually gets to spread it on the bread. I think I've finally taught him not to lick the knife--certainly not to lick and dip. Not sure how many reminders that will need, but he caught himself yesterday--he started to stick the knife in his mouth, stopped and went to get a spoon, so he could eat a spoonful of jelly. I was so proud.


So according to Cookie, Josie has been able to hold her own bottle for a month now. News to me. These next pictures were taken while we were on the phone with daddy last night (his Friday morning). She isn't sitting unassisted, but she sure can hold her own bottle. I love these pants--they have hydrangeas on them--wish I'd gotten the size for next year too (as I'm apt to do when I like an outfit).
Here Ed is blowing a kiss goodbye to daddy. In the background by Cookie is a picture of daddy on the bullet train--Ed specifically asks me to pull this picture up so much I just printed out a copy.

So at the risk of all the ribbing I'm about to get, I will admit the following: I burnt brocolli I was steaming. Now in my defense, I was trying to pump milk at the same time. Cookie said to cook it about 8 min and I did it about 4 -5 min. too long. When you are dealing with a small amount of water in a pan, every minute is evaporated water. I just forgot about it--until I smelled soemthing and wondered what it was...then I looked over at the stove and still couldn't figure it out until a switch turned in my brain and I remembered I was cooking.

So not only did I burn the brocolli -- it actually looked okay, but tasted pretty bad, I burned the bottom 2 inches of the pan. Black. Then, using ketchup, Cookie magically got it 98% clean. I was so proud of myself--I'd bought fresh brocolli and chopped it and everything--it was going to be so tasty. If there is any doubt as to my kitchen prowness, let it now be put to rest.

G'parents Wisc. arrived yesterday. They had a long day as the first leg of their flight was delayed, and they got here about 4 hours after they planned, but g'pa still came bounding up the stairs when he heard Eddie. Eddie didn't want any pictures this morning, even for daddy, so I look this one with him in the corner, he kind of blends into the toys.

Reading is Fundamental

A dear friend of ours, Lisa Guernsey just came out with a fascinating book, pictured here. Another friend, who also will have a book out this fall (will be covered on another post), wrote up a great diddy about the book premire party, see link below.

We're so proud (and impressed) to know people who have written books that weren't required to get a degree (although those too are impressive) .

http://elizabethdillow.typepad.com/_a_swoop_and_a_dart_/2007/09/a-book-recommen.html#comments

While You Were Sleeping on Wed. Night, this was OUR Wednesday

Den says it's hard keeping track of which day is up, which I can understand. I told him it was easy for me--he's doing the opposite of what we are.

I remembered at about the last minute--right before bathrime, that I hadn't taken any pictures--even though we went to the zoo today. Eddie is taking this GREAT class at the zoo on baby animals. Maybe tmr I'll post pictures of some of his projects.

Cookie came today and made it all better (from yesterday's post). I still have the same clothes to put away, but I feel calmer.

Here are a couple pictures of Josie in her johnny jump-up. She spins all over. It's funny when we first put her in, she barely had the strength to keep herslef upright and now she bounces and spins and swings all over. One night I look out the front storm door to find three neighborhood kids peering in, watching. Cracked me up.

Eddie had a multi-course meal tonight, finishing with yogart. Den has been sending some pictures and a couple videos for Eddie, which he loves. So I told him to smile for daddy and he did. Looks like he needs a haircut...time for his green lollipop, which he gets when he has a haircut.

Japan

Apologies to Den who carefully formatted his word document to have the pictures near the captions, but in the interest of getting this posted while he is still on the trip, I thought I'd throw it up there.

I've been having challenges getting the photos to load in the correct order, such are the limitations of Blogger--easy to use means it can't be overly complicated, I guess.

His text is below. I do know that the last photo on my screen is of the sushi trains, one of the coolest things I remember from Japan. You tell the chef what you want (he is often standing in the middle) and a couple minutes later it floats by on these plates, freshly cut from the fish--at least that's what I saw in the resturants I visited.

He seems to be having a good, if not tiring trip...

Guest Post from Japan


As Elizabeth has written, I’m on a week-long work trip to Japan. Today, I spent the day with a co-worker and the agent (Jim H) working with my company and some Japanese counterparts. He gave us a grand walking/train tour of Tokyo, taking us to the low and high sides of town—and everything in between. Here we are after our day on the town (only 2 beers each). It was hot—around 90 degrees and sunny.

We started at our hotel in the Akasaka district near the US Embassy. From there we went to the “shallow” or low end of town called Asakusa. Tons of little shops and a couple of Buddhist temples.

We waited for one of Jim’s favorite sushi joints to open for lunch at 11:00 (we started at 9:00), Maguro Bito. We grabbed our favorite sushi bites when they went by on the train.

Then back on the Orange line to Aokama for some more shops & stuff. Here I am standing in front of one of the largest solid stone lanterns—one that survived WWII.

Next, off to the “high” end of the city on the other end of the Orange Line—Shibuya. Then we were off to the electronics sales portion of the city—Akiyabara (I think that’s the name. Lots of stuff is less expensive in the States.

Finally, off to Shinjuku for dinner at the top of a department store (Takashimaya) that reminded me of a fancier version of Nordstrom. I was looking for something for E and the kids, but the t-shirts alone were $50-60. Over dinner (beginning at 4:00—we had exercised a lot), Jim kept telling us that we were on the high-speed tour and that in coming visits, we would focus our tourist energy in more focused locations (bringing E along, of course, he said).

Hump Day

I have the contents of Eddie's and Josie's dresser in the wash, plus some of ours to fold and put away, a stack of dishes, and a long 'to do' list, including a thank you to Aunt Sharon who not only brought dinner, but held a screaming Josie. AND, I need to go to bed. But above all, I need to decompress and look at cute pictures of my kids.



Book-ended by a 45 minute nap that Josie took at 8ish this morning and a 4:15 nap she took for about 45 min. to an hour, I had a pretty crappy day. That said, most days are usually pretty darn good, with only the ocassional flare up.



Den and I have been able to talk each morning and evening, so that's been nice, but they've been brief, so lots is coverd here. I know he is working really hard so that I too can make a trip to Japan someday.



If you don't count the several times Josie woke up last night before I finally gave in and just co-slept, the day started at 5:30 when Eddie woke up. I did get him to read books in his crib till about 6:15. Josie woke up not much after, although she usually sleeps in well past 7.



While I was changing Josie's morning diaper, Ed decided he wanted some ice cream. From my room, where I was changing her, I could hear him open our bottom-mount freezer (liking it less and less each day). It sounded like he was trying to get something open. Then I hear the silverware drawer open and something being removed (he can stand on a stool and just barely peer in). All the while, I'm up to my elbows in baby and yelling to him that he needs to close the freezer and that he better not be getting the ice cream out.



When I finally emerge, I couldn't help but laugh. There stood Eddie, with the freezer door wide open and the lid off the ice cream. He has his little hand in the ice cream and yanks his spoon out. He then puts his spoon on the counter, saying "I don't need this anymore". This is at about 6:45am.



Something snapped in Ed and he just began pushing every last button I have to push and some I didn't know I had. He was throwing things down the stairs, throwing utensils, all the while gauging my reaction. Mind you, I'm battling the same cold both kids are (which isn't that bad as colds go), but I'm feeling pretty short on patience to begin with. I feel bad, but I guess I can't be the parent I want to be 100% of the time any more than Eddie can be the angel I want him to be 100% of the time. But he does come pretty close.



We walked Eddie to preschool today and Josie fell asleep on the way home in the morning and the way there in the afternoon for only brief periods. She then fell asleep on the one errand I tried to run with her. I decided to head home and see if I couldn't get a nap myself only to have her not only wake up as soon as I open the car door, but to be cranky ALL DAY. Short of holding her, there was nothing I could do. She did manage the adorable smiles below. The shot of Eddie is during her afternoon nap.





Eddie is in his second week and third day of preschool (goes twice/week). Today he said he didn't want to go, although he went without much protest. Then when I picked him up, I got a hug like he hadn't seen me in days and he asked to go home. When we got home he said he didn't want to go to preschool again. Now I know it will take him a little while to adjust and I'm willing to allow that to happen, but yikes.



Last year I contemplated taking him out, but he really was learning things. This year, I'm not as convinced. I know at this age it's all for socialization, but if he's not having fun, there is no point--I could (far cheaper I might add) take him to classes on Tuesdays and have Fridays wide open. Granted this would be a lot more 'together' time, but when he comes home with the art project below, I have to wonder how much fun he's having if he is supposed to be 'learning' something that he's known almost as long as he could talk--his colors. Wonder if he's bored.



About the only thing he's done so far is bring home his 2nd cold in a month's time. I will give it time to sink in, but it's not like he HAS to go and I do kind of hate that there are things we could be doing, but he is in school when they happen.



This afternoon, after school, Eddie decided that the water toy he has (it's a pool type thing with a pump and a dam--all the neighborhood kids love it---http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1426 )

would be good to step into--with sneakers, socks and long pants on. When I took off his shoes and rolled up his pants, he decided his shoes hadn't gotten wet enough the first time and put them in for a dunk again. After throwing toys up in the air nearly hitting the kids who'd come to play, giving Josie's toys a dunk and generally exceeding my patience, I made him go inside. In my rush, I didn't get all his balls put away and we are now missing one of his preferred blue balls...egads!



Once inside, Aunt Sharon came over with dinner made up and the necessary patience to help me deal with 2 kids. During her visit, Josie spit up what both Sharon and I had just fed her. I changed her outfit. Then not 30 minutes later, she has a blow out diaper, smiling all the while I wiggle her legs back and forth and up and down, until the poop comes out on me. Another round of clothes for all.



Then, as Eddie is brushing his teeth, he sticks his tooth brush down the already fascinating sink drain. He didn't lose it, but I was grossed out enough I threw out the toothbrush and he was somewhat upset. Now, at 10pm, I've been up to put Josie back to sleep two times. The second time I peered in at Eddie to remind myself that not only will I not have to put her to sleep when she goes to college, but in all too short of a time, she will want and need me less and less.



Now to the title of the post--sometime today we reached the 1/2way point of Den's trip. I've only got 3 more bedtimes to go and 4 full days. Today was the day I knew would be most difficult--granted I wasn't expecting it to be quite like this, but it does remind me of why I work--so that when Den travels I can get a break. Well, and I like my job too.



I feel much better. How was your day?

Bare Bones

Running off to bed to catch as much sleep as I can before one of the kids wakes up...since it's daytime for Den, wanted him to possibly see these before bed. Today was his first day of meetings, second full day in Country. He sent a post for me to make, but we had some hiccups for the pictures, so stay tuned...

Bought Ed one of those fancy highchairs by Stokke and LOVE it so far--so does Ed. He climbs right up and slides right up to the table. Thanks to g'pa Ohio for assembly...

Doesn't it look like J is purposefully waving?


Ed loves this dog/cat puppet that sings/meows/barks old mcdonald had a farm, one note at a time. He was getting awfully close to the camera as I was trying to take photos, but at least he was letting me take pictures.

Goodnight/good morning, whatever it is when you read this...

2 kids with colds...and their mom too

Determined not to repeat my recent lack of photos during g'parents visits, I've been trying to remember to take out the camera more. Unfortunately, I've not exactly caught the best moments of the kids.

Den sent a video to us and I must have played it 10 times for Eddie. He got a huge grin each time he saw it--until I took out the camera. I think he was blowing a kiss to Den here.

G'pa had Josie is stitches. She is also starting to come down with the cold. Nothing much exciting here. We didn't really do much of anything today, which was a nice change. G'parents Ohio leave tmr, so I'll have 3 days alone with the kids. Just hope everyone starts feeling better soon.

Oh and Den found out it was only 13 hours difference. Funny talking to him over dinner when he was getting ready for breakfast...

14 hours and a day

Den left on a 6am flight on Sat. for Japan. It's now 3:30am here and I woke to feed J and couldn't resist turning on the computer to find out when he landed. The nex thing I know, I realize I haven't posted to the blog pictures for Den, so here I am---briefly.

First, let me say our keyboard is starting to stick, so I may now blame typos (that drive Den crazy) on that.

G'parents Ohio are pulling their weekend shift now. I just found out about a friend whose husband will be gone for three-weeks and she seemed so non-pulsed about that time with three VERY young children, not even having given thought to bringing in help. Den says he'll be gone over 2 weekend and I bring in the g'parents--both sets. Den's parents will arrive on Thurs. They could always come earlier if they wanted.

Anyway, g'parents Ohio came on a Thurs. and we put them to work almost immediately. We've now had a datenight and I had a night out, plus a work meeting. Josie has had to take in a bit of formula because I ran out of b-milk and I guess wasn't drinking enough water to replinish. Anyway, it's the first formula she's had since I was taking all the really good drugs when she was just home from the hospital. Eddie by this point was a pro at formula consumption, so I'm pretty excited she made it this long. I remember what a girlfriend said--don't be afraid to supplement--it took me a bit, but I'm not.

Den took this picture of me and baby J. Not the most flattering for me, but...here it is for Mr. Japan. So the time difference, as you might guess is 14 hours, plus a day (since it's across the int'l dateline). We're not sure yet when we'll talk by phone as Den's schedule is pretty programmed. I really hope they get some business, just because I'd love to go back to Japan. I went in 98 and had a blast.

I learned tonight at a party in an informal survey that many dads get bath duty and we're no exception. Den was having a great time with J a couple nights back. She does this thing now where she kicks so much and she slides right down the bath. Does the same side regardless of where she's sitting in the bath. THere is a little bar/bump separating the toddler/sitting up side from the infant/reclined side and it always ends up on her back.

Eddie of late has wanted to wear his "buckey badger shirt--just like daddy". He asked for it while it was being washed, so as soon as it was clean...I had bought as close to matching shirts as I could find for xmas, per Den's request.

So this is the only photo I took today. Josie was napping and as soon as this was shot, I got the out-stretching hand and the "no pictures" plead, so I have one more photo of Eddie covering his eyes and it's a super close up shot, so this is it. He's got his bowling pin animals in his shirt. He's got another cold--so he looks a little ill.

I also learned tonight that there are plenty of people who voluntarly wake up at crazy hours or stay up late--like now to write and accomplish stuff they wouldn't otherwise be able to. Yikes.

We'll see what photos Ed permits me to take on Sunday (which will mostly be the middle of the night for daddy).

For some werid reason, I"m feeling super empowered this trip--invincible--like I could accomplish anything. THis feeling doesn't usually set in until a couple days into a trip. Wonder what I'll do to stall straightening up the house--I'm sure it involves shopping...

My Addiction

Bet you thought I'd talk about computers and the internet, but no. I'm going to put myself out there for all the ribbing that is sure to come, I have a stroller addiction. Our first stroller was a Zooper Swing that as soon-to-be-new parents we bought because it seemingly did everything we wanted a stroller to do -- or thought we did. It was reasonably priced and was a nice compromise for Den's request to only buy one stroller. Then we had the baby.





We are now the proud owners of:


1. Zooper Swing (which I'd like to sell). I hate that the baby can't face you and so you are constantly stopping to see what's going on in there. Otherwise, nice stroller.


2. Kolcraft Universal (plug in frame for carseat)-- bought this because it was less cumbersome and smaller than the Zooper--anything to make it easier to get out and about--and it worked--and still does for Josie.


3. Kolcraft something-or-other $50 stroller from Sears. We used this as our airplane travel stroller for a while. It was cheap so if the airlines broke it (which they ultimately did), we wouldn't care. It now resides at g'parents Ohio.


4. Zooper was too difficult to fold down and took up most of trunk, so we opted for a McClaren Quest--much better handling and smaller umbrella-style profile.


5. Had a third - me- down single jogger till we relinquished that to its original owners for a


6. Bob Revolution single jogger--great steering, great for jogging, handlebar is too high for me, so I don't use--but Den has put a few (which Den says is more than a couple) hundred miles on it--at least.


7. Needed a double for the ocassional nanny share (well prior to number 2) friends gave us their used, much older model Combi tandem (double) stroller-- in perfectly usable condition. It has offically been cristened our beach/beater stroller.


8. Needed a double so the nanny could push both Eddie and J on walks. She specifically requested the Graco duoglider. I reluctantly agreed, not being a Graco stroller fan--this was after months of shopping and not finding anything else--she and I agreed a tandem (front to back) was the best given the age spread of J and Ed.


9. REI was having a HUGE Labor Day weekend sale and the Bob Revolution Duallie (2-seater) was marked down by A LOT. Den agreed that he would in the next couple months want a double jogger (in just about 3 - 4 months we'll be able to send Josie out with Ed and Den on jogs and park visits). Irony here is now nanny loves this stroller and uses it every day--makes Den happy. I like it too--doesn't feel like you are pushing two kids, let alone one.


10. Peg Perego Venezia--I used to call this my dream stroller--it was everything I wanted--until I joined a listserve that is devoted to strollers, now I have other dream strollers, but I still REALLY like the Peg Perego Venezia I just got last weekend used for less than 1/4 of the full price in fabulous shape--practically a steal.





Now my dream stroller is the Mountain Buggy Urban Double, but it seems a bit redundant since we have the Duallie. Since the nanny has latched onto the new Bob Revolution Duallie, the Graco Duoglider is left sitting in the garage--for when someone else needs a double--like my new walking buddy to preschool. Course I have three doubles from which to chose--even I think this is a little crazy. Don't get me started on the iCandy Pear, due out this fall--looks like Eddie will be a touch too big for it though.





Now all together "Poor Dennis". Yes, but the wise Dennis knows, "A Happy Wife = A Happy Life". If I ever get time (the publishing of this post has been delayed because...) I'd been wanting photos of all the strollers lined up, thought it'd be fun. But with the broken computer, I'm so behind at this point, am letting these publish in their original order...

Name Your Caption

Den calls this "Googlemaps to g'parents Ohio and Wisc." Eddie is continually talking about seeing the g'parents--when will they come, when will we go to see them. Well, since they are coming in sucessive weekends, starting tomorrow, he's not be asking quite so much, but this looks like he's pretty serious about that computer.
G'parents Ohio got him the above computer shortly after he turned two and I admonished them, saying he was too young (and I didn't really want him to play with electronics yet). I've since had a change of heart and embraced it as I don't him to be the only kid who doesn't know what a computer is--course whenver Den or I sit in front of our kitchen computer, he says, 'mommy typin' an email'. I am not kidding.
G'parents more recently sent him this new Brio train set. I'm not a huge fan of the character stuff--Dora, Thomas, etc. (not even Mickey), so while I know it's inevitable, I can avoid it as long as possible.

After I took the train out of the box, he started putting the track together himself and just needed help on the straight-away under the tunnel.

This past weekend I went to a couple yardsales (I don't remember the last time I did this, but I'm certainly going to start going more), as I landed this great blue car for $4. We cleaned it off and Eddie wanted to help---then he wanted to dry it off. So far he can only move it backward--it's kid propelled--think Fred Flintsone.

Some perfectly random photos

Josie previously did not care for baby carrying devices until we recently tried to pop her in the good ole bjorn (which I hate--and which is why I have a Maya Wrap). She was perfectly happy--despite this photo, which cracks me up. Everyone says she looks like me, but they have the same expression on right now. I really think she has a similar personality to Den.

Josie is starting to try and sit up--she doesn't completely fall over when propped up with pillows and will stick her arms out to catch herself when she starts to keel over. This is her in what I call Cousin Sharon's dress after we went to church one weekend. We've started to try and be more religious--or rather I'm disgusted that Eddie has better recognition of Mickey Mouse than he does of the inside of a church--until now.

Thing is, we chose to go to the Latin Mass, unbeknownest to us. It was quite interesting, and they had a book that described what the Priest was doing so if you got lost you could quickly find your place again. Thing was, we both were wrestling kids to keep them quiet and couldn't really do that. But it was neat. They do a Latin mass the first Sunday of the month at one of the eight services offered on Sundays.

Eddie did really well at chuch--usually Den has to take him out after about 20 minutes, but he made it the whole way through. Den and I kept exchanging glances, each afraid to acknowledge what the other was thinking--he's still doing fine, until they sang the last song of the service and we were walking out the door.

I was really pleased when this time, as we walked towards the church, Eddie called out and pointed to the Church, knowing where we were going. I'm beginning to wonder if he has a photographic memory. His recollection of things is just phenominal. He remembers from 2 days ago that he was going to the zoo. When I talked to him about preschool and said the room with red chairs (from Friday) he remembered on Tues that there were also some blue chairs in the room. He has said several times that he knows daddy has to go on an airplane twice before we will get on an airplane to visit Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse (that will be another post).

He seems to have an inventory of the location of his toys, which ones are upstairs and which are downstairs. It's just mind-boggling. He is also going to eat us out of house and home. He hate a full piece of meatloaf, a bunch of broccoli, a piece of cornbread (I'm talking adult sized portions), then another time, ate about as much pasta as Den did then had several slivers of peach before finishing off a bowl of watermelon--that we really didn't think all three of us would get through, much less just Eddie.








In the picture below, he was just goofing around and I ran in to get my camera, he agreed to pose--I think because he thought he would get admonished to not stand on the table and instead I was directing him to pose that way.


Usually Eddie doesn't want his photo taken, but in this case, I was taking pictures of Josie and he asked me to snap some of him--immediately after he requested 'no photos'. The look on Josie's face is so relaxed, so 'hey there'.

West Coast visitors

My friend Peg and her mom were in town for a whirlwind weekend to attend a wedding over Labor Day (that's how behind I am) and they popped in for a quick visit en route from the airport to the festivities.

Peggy is one of those first friends I met when we moved to Ohio. Through girl scouts, band, college, and everything in between, we've managed to stay in touch. It's fun to know people that long. See http://casitaluna.blogspot.com/2007/09/from-weekend.html

for other pictures when they were at our house (and the wedding).

See Auntie M and Uncle K, you too can come from the West coast to visit your neice and nephew! We take visitors from other parts of the country too.

From the Desk of a Sleep-Deprived Family

A while back I wrote about the murphey's law of parenting more than one kid. I discussed sleep how it's rare for everyone to sleep well in the night. Well, we are really experiencing that now and I'm about at my cracking point. Days and nights are starting to blur.



A snapshot of our week (in no order, because I can't keep track of who is sleeping well which night, only that Den and I are not).

Sunday night: Ed goes down easy, Josie doesn't want to fall asleep. Den and I try to get ready for the week, he falls asleep no problem. I can't fall asleep till almost 1. 1:10am Josie wakes up. She's back to sleep in 15 minutes. 2am, Ed wakes screaming -- both Den and I go in to keep him from waking his sister. He wants to get in our bed. We compromise and put his crib mattress on the floor of his room. Fall asleep by 3. 4:30 Josie wants to eat. Fall asleep at 4:45. 5:30 Eddie wakes again, ready for the day, not wanting to go back to sleep. Meanwhile I had trouble sleeping all night--separate from the kids.



Monday: Both kids in bed by 8, we try to go to bed not long after, but somehow it's 11pm. Josie wakes at 2, just as I drift off to sleep, Eddie wakes up screaming. Doesn't want the crib mattress out of the bed this time, but wants milk and water. Wind down by 3--at some point--maybe during another waking, he gets Den to put socks on his feet. 4:30--I wake up and try and move Josie to her crib from the adult bed set up in her room--she wakes up and has trouble going back to sleep. 6:30, Eddie wakes up. Unbeknowest to me, Den is not able to sleep this night, tossing and turning.



Tuesday: Josie sleeps till 4am. It's Ed who wakes 10 minutes after I fall alseep and then wakes again. This is the part that is really bothering us--Ed had been such a great sleeper the last several months. We're really wondering what is going on. We wonder if he is ready to move into a toddler or regular bed. We wonder if he is having nightmares or even night terrors. Or maybe he is feeling like he's not getting enough attention from us. Whatever it is, he is sleeping like crap. Josie is usually doing okay, given her age, but then Den and I are taking turns with nights that we can't sleep.



I'm about ready to go sleep in a hotel for the night. I'd send Dennis to do that, but he doesn't sleep well in hotels. Oh and did I mention he's leaving for Japan on Saturday for a week. I am going to be an absolute zombie when he gets back. You see, he has been letting me sleep in while he gets up for the day with Eddie, so I usually get an extra 30 min. to an hour. We've got to figure out how to get Eddie to sleep--I've already started consulting my usual books and listserves.

First Day of Preschool

Eddie started his second year of prsechool today. His preschool allows you to begin as early as one year (he was 18 months). At that point, it's really a mom's day out program -- but he did learn quite a bit. I'm sad to report that the picture (he only let me take one) didn't turn out. Something happened! Argh.

Well, I can still tell the story and I have a cute picture of Josie and her boyfriend Josh. Josh's older brother and Eddie go to the same preschool and their mom and I walked the mile each way to school today--in the rain. It wasn't raining when we started out, mind you. But I got 4 miles in today between drop off and pick up--I think that's the most exercise I've had in a year.

So Eddie said he didn't want to go to school this morning, but I didn't exactly give him a choice and told him about what to expect. We got there and he was suddenly all ready. He just walked off and tried to go into the classroom with the teacher he had last year and when I pulled him back and directed him to the correct classroom, he was ready to walk right in there too. I had to pull him to me to get my hug and kiss goodbye. A few moments later I hear the familiar and distinct sound of a box of lego type blocks being dumped to the floor.

The teachers make you drop the kids off at the door. I still don't know how I feel about that, but I don't really have to worry, because Eddie doesn't seem to care. Meanwhile the sound of kids crying was pouring out of every room in the halllway. I know Eddie must have been wondering what was going on. He was very happy to see me in the afternoon, but didn't have much to say about his day. He liked seeing the babies in the stroller together and liked carrying his soccer ball lunch box.

Let me preference the following by saying I honestly have no idea of what is age approrpriate for Eddie at this point to know or be able to do. So when I picked him up, the Aide to the teacher says to me, 'he's obviously very smart--he knew all his colors'. Instead of saying 'thank you', I say, "well, he knows them in Spanish too". He knows his letters and numbers, his colors, his shapes, can piece together events, sequencing, etc.

For Josie's Five month update, visit my Sept. 3 post, just submitted. http://watchusgo.blogspot.com/2007/09/josies-5-month-update.html

Random thoughts

I've had these random thoughts floating through as a post for a while: clothing sizes, sleep, and dairy...
My mom hates to shop. Yet for someone who hates to shop, she contributes quite a bit to our economy. Whenever I go back to Ohio, we go shopping at some of my favorite stores. This one location of Ann Taylor has the largest (and best) petite section I've come across. I nearly always find something. This last visit was no exception. I wanted some fresh clothes for my post-pregnancy, nursing figure.

One of the many things I didn't think about when I had Eddie was that just as there was a gradual ladder up in clothing sizes, there would be a ladder down. No one knows how big you'll get until you get there and for the most part, there is no way to predict when (or if) you'll ever fit into your pre-pregnancy clothes. With Eddie I took quite a while to shrink back down and was just getting into my size 4s when I got pregnant with J. This time around, I've gotten smaller much faster (I swear it's genetics, because it sure doesn't have anything to do with the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips I've eaten tonight, or the near daily over indulgence of sugary, bad-for-you-foods).

All this aside, I was not prepared for what I found at Ann Taylor. I was a size 0, as in zero, and double 00, depending on the article of clothing. How did this happen? Yet in my pre-pregnancy clothes, I can just barely fit into most of my size 4s and a handful of size 2s that are newer. At this rate I'm going to be sized out of clothes. I already can't shop at Talbot's because their smallest size is way too large on me. I think it's fairly well known that the fashion industry has changed their sizing policies to better reflect current sizing trends, but really, this is too much!

Nevermind that I can't reliably pick the same size in the same store, but even Dennis has found variation in sizing of mens clothes--the last unmarred area of fashion. I do buy kids shoes, as I'm border-line there too and have on ocassion bought children's clothing--at least it's less expensive.

Sleep Habits--Josie is at that point (and I will get her 5 month birthday update posted) where she is really only waking once/night (when she feels well) and even then if we were hard-asses, I think we could get her sleeping through the night. When she is napping during the day and at night when she's called out or cried, we try to wait a little bit before going to her, so as not to rush right in. Well, I've gone in the last couple nights and she's been out cold.

I laugh to myself as I slowly back out of her room, trying to remember the places in the floor that creak, so as not to disturb her. I feel like I'm sneaking out, trying not to wake the lion, when it's just a baby. But, a baby who could keep you chained to her crib, if you're not careful.

Den and I are trying to remember back to what we did when Eddie was this age, or when Ed had finally progressed to sleeping this well. We can't remember. Either it was too traumatic, or we were too sleep deprived, but neither of us has recolection of when or how he finally got to the point where he put himself to sleep. I do remember lots of nights standing over the crib, so he could hold our hand, or touch a part of us. You would slowly slide your hand out, bit by bit, judging as you went if you thought he was asleep enough to leave. If you left too soon, he'd shoot up in bed--like you had betrayed him and you'd have to go back and do it all over again.

Fortunately he's very easy to put to bed now. Josie is much easier. Although she still hasn't perfected a nice long nap, you can set her down in her crib and generally walk away.

The third thing (if you're still with me), I've been ruminating over lately is what I will eat in exactly 7 months, when Josie is drinking regular (we hope) milk. As you may recall, I'm living a dairy-free existance at the moment. It's really not that bad, but can make meals somewhat challenging. I hope I don't make anyone too hungry, but I can't wait to have a McDonald's chocolate milkshake. I can't wait to have a piece of real cheese, not soy (or the better tasting 'rice' cheese). I'll be able to have cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, Den's cheesy hash browns that will clog all your arteries, grilled cheese sandwhich, lasgna, french onion soup with gooey cheese melted on top, and I could go on.

I do eat some dairy like butter and often have to be reminded that sour cream and cream cheese do in fact have dairy, so it's not as strict as if I were eating kosher.

One thing I think I'll keep is the soy milk. It tastes perfectly fine to me and seems to be so much healthier than regular milk--and I drink a lot of the stuff. I do hope Josie is able to eat dairy, but if not, we'll at least have a year's worth of experience of foods that don't have dairy.

I've got a couple great pictures from the weekend coming up soon.

Catch up photos

I've been meaning to post these for a while now. A dear friend from high school lives a little over an hour away and we try and get together a couple times/year. Most recently she brought her then 10 month-old twins, pictured here. It was quite the housefull (back in July). Eddie was mesmerized by them--I'm not sure if it was because there were two of them, or they were older babies than baby J, or what.

My friend for her part has the whole thing down pat.

Visited g'parents Ohio the beginning of August--sandwiched between g'parents Wisc. and the beach. We were only able to squeeze in a couple much-needed visits with old friends.

Ed had never eaten whipped cream before (well, Cool Whip anyway) and it was quite entertaining--as with most condiments/sauces/seasonings, etc. , once he got it under his belt, he tried to spoon the Cool Whip straight in, without the benefit of the strawberry.

Josie is being held by one of the very first people I met when we moved from Florida to Ohio as a child--our next door neighbor, who was my age.
Josie is mesmerized by the fan at g'parents Ohio.

And I think I mentioned we were treated to an extra, yet unexpected visit by g'parents Ohio for unfortunately, a funeral. Here g'ma hauled Dennis out to take pictures of g'pa playing catch with Ed. I thought they'd done that a lot, given Ed's love of balls, but it was cute.

I don't know if I mentioned this in his 2.5 year post, because I don't think we'd experienced it yet, but we experienced something like the flip of a switch, it happened so fast--Eddie's processing of the world around him is so much more developed than it was even last month.

I'm trying to think of how to describe it--he understands so much more and can put things in context on a level different than he used to. It didn't quite happen overnight, but just about. It was after we got back from the beach that I started to notice it. Anyway, there's my "what we ate for dinner" post. :)