Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Climber

Lucy had her 15-month check-up this week and I was thrilled to learn that she's finally surpassed the 20-pound mark with a whole two ounces to spare.

When the topic switched to eating I stopped the doctor from continuing.

"We have absolutely no problems in that area.  I assure you."

Lucy can eat her weight in food and then some.  And she will it ANYTHING.  Even if she doesn't like it, she shoves it down the hatch, begrudgingly.

So how does she stay so tiny?  Allow me to illustrate.

A helpful stool because before I added it she was scaling the baseboards on her tippy toes while performing a pull-up on the window sill.

She could care less about the television, unlike her older brother.  But if anything resembles music, a song or just a beat, she beelines it to the to the armoire and gives herself a six inch boost.

How did she manage to get up here without bumping her head?  Heaven knows.

All these pictures were taken on different days so at this point you may be wondering: Does this child own clothing?  Indeed, she does, but she's such a sweat bucket, what with all the activity, that I find she's most comfortable in her bare skin and a diap.

And just to prove she is clothed SOME of the time, I offer you a shot of her absolute favorite perch, hands-down.  Stairs are like crack cocaine to this lady.  Up and down all day, every day.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

An Evening on the Front Steps with William

When the trees don't have leaves that means they are dead.  But this tree isn't dead.  It has lots of leaves.  You see those bunnies over there, Mommy?  I like bunnies.  But Grandma doesn't like squirrels.  And Grandma's name is Peggy and that's her name [pointing to neighbor] too.  Two Peggys.  Yep.  Two Peggys.  But what's he doing?

Sweeping.

But why is he sweeping?

Because he just mowed the lawn.  He's sweeping the grass off the sidewalk.

But Daddy just mowed the lawn too.

I know but we have a blower instead of a broom.

But why doesn't he have a blower?

I don't know, honey.  Some people don't have blowers.

Hi, Mary Jean!  Mommy, look it's Mary Jean.

Hi, Mary Jean.

Is that Cooper [dog]?

Yes.

I like Cooper.  And I like Ellie too.  Nana said Ellie can sleep with me when I come to her house.  But she didn't.

Why not?

'Cause she did not.  And Papa does magic.

Magic?  Why kind of magic?

Well first I get up and then I go into Nana's bed.  Nana's bed is really high.  Did you know that Nana's bed is really high?

Yes, I do know that.  What kind of magic does Papa do?

Well, um, he brings us the toast and the peanut butter in Nana's bed.  And he said that's magic.  And then I eat it all up.  But Nana says, "No crumbs in bed!"  Hey what happened to her eye? [Pointing to a Cabbage Patch Doll's eye.]

Well, when I was a little girl I accidentally scratched her eye and some of the paint came off.

When you were a little girl did you have sharp claws?

No.  It was just my fingernail.  It was an accident.

Oh. But I don't have sharp claws because you just cut-ted my nails.  'member, Mommy?  You just cut-ted them.

William, it's almost time for bed.

But I was just in bed.

I know.  Why did you get out?

Well I was sleeping with Donald [Duck] you know.

I know, what happened?

Well he was flapping all around and he told me to get out of bed.  He told me he wasn't sleepy.

Oh really.  Can Donald fly?

Yeah he just flaps his wings and he flies right out of bed.

I didn't think Donald had wings?

Well he has hands and his hands are his wings and he flaps them really really fast like this and then he flies.  Hey, why is he doing that? [Neighbor wiping forehead.]

Because he's hot and sweaty.

But I'm not hot and I'm not sweaty.

I know but he's working hard and when you work hard you some times get hot and sweaty.

But I'm a hard worker.  I have big muscles.  Does he have big muscles?

Yes, I'm sure he does.

But mine are bigger.  See? [Flexing]  When is Daddy coming home?

As soon as church is done.

And then he can give me some more medicine?

We'll see.  If you're still sick.

But my head hurts.  And my neck hurts too.

I know, honey, that's why you need to stay in bed.  Laying your head on your pillow makes you feel better.

But it did not make it feel better, Mommy.

Sometimes you have to lay there for a long time before it starts to feel better.

Well I really want Daddy to come home so that he can give me some more medicine.

I promise when Daddy gets home I will send him in your room to see if you need more medicine.

But I really do need more medicine.

We'll see.  I'm going inside.  You wanna come too?

Sure.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Sunday Mass Sans Kids

William was fighting some sort of bug yesterday that left him with a horribly high fever.  So Brian and I found ourselves attending mass by ourselves at separate times.  Normally I like to attend mass as a family.  It's tough, during this season of babies and toddlers and preschoolers, but I think the dedication leaves a dramatic mark on their souls.

But, but, every once in a great while we are graced with a situation that forces us to attend mass without kids or even by ourselves.

"How'd it go?" I ask Brian when he returned from the Basilica last night.

"Hey, did you know there's this thing called a homily that comes right after the Gospel?"

"Yeah and did you know there are two whole readings before the Gospel?"

"Yeah.  And I was really surprised to learn that most people are respectful and reverent during the consecration."

"Hmmm," I reply, "What a novel idea!"

Friday, July 23, 2010

New Comment Form

Today I installed a new comment form. I wanted something where people could still comment anonymously (I love any and all comments even if I don't know who you are!) but I also wanted the ability to reply to you if you ask me a question or if I just really like what you had to say. There is also an ability for you to reply directly to other commenters, hence the name Intense Debate. Although I doubt we'll be getting into any intense debating here on mamanash.com.

A few things to note:

1. If you want to comment anonymously, simply make up a name or use the word "anonymous."
2. If you're ever interested in staying up-to-date on new comments or replies to your comment you have that option in the Subscribe to drop-down box. I think it notifies you via the email you provide.
3. You can comment via your Facebook, Twitter, IntenseDebate, Wordpress or OpenID account.  If you have none of these, no worries. Just ignore it.
4. If all of this sounds way too confusing know this: all you have to do is simply write your comment, enter a name, an email address and hit submit and you're done. Easy peasy.

Give it a try and let me know your feedback. If it turns out to be a big hairy disaster I'll just go back to what we're all used to.

That's all. Carry on!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A Date at the Fabric Store

Brian and I had a date night sans kids last night.  And it was pretty lame as far as dates go.  Not because of who I was with but because of what we had on our to-do list.  We are undergoing a pretty fun house project right now (pictures coming in the next few weeks) and as much as I'd love to tow the kids along to a fabric store followed by a home improvement store, well, I don't.  I'd rather pound my head against a wall, honestly.
Brian's all in on this project so he didn't mind taking up precious quality time together to go pick out a few materials.  The first stop was a craft shop to pick out fabric for a cushion cover.  I'm an anti-craft person so these places scare the crap out of me.  I try to limit my visits to twice a year and even writing the word "twice" just now gives me the cold sweats.
So we park the car and walk through the automatic doors.  I spot the fabric department and start making a bee line.  But Brian was still frozen at the entrance.  I noticed he wasn't following me so I turned back to look at him.
"OH. MY. GOODNESS."
And he said it just like that.  Three complete statements.  I never even thought about the fact that (a) Brian has never been in one of these types of stores and (b) he didn't even know these types of stores existed.
"This is going to be like the T.J. Maxx of my childhood, isn't it?"
Brian's mom used to torture her children at T.J. Maxx.  Torture, of course, being the word Brian uses.  Me?  I'd call it being real.
The woman had six children!  Can you imagine back-to-school shopping with six kids?  Four of whom are boys, who, on any day of the week would choose a slow, painful death rather than shopping for clothes.
But I know the truth.  T.J. Maxx boasts quality, name-brand clothing at ridiculously low prices.  When you have that many kids you've got to make your buck stretch.
"What's so bad about T.J. Maxx?" I once asked Brian.
According to him it was the ultimate betrayal in the mother/son relationship because not only did they have to go shopping for clothes but they had to do it in a store that contain no cool toys.
So back to our scary craft trip.  I look back at Brian, who is still stunned into utter disbelief and say, "This is no fun for me either so let's get it over with."
And here comes the part where I tell you this is one of the biggest reasons I married Brian Nash.  He can turn any lame, boring, torturous event into knee-slapping, tears-down-your-cheeks, side-splitting fun.
Immediately I immerse myself in fabric trying to find the perfect color, perfect pattern.  Immediately Brian starts pulling out ridiculous black fabrics with candy corn printed all over it.
"Too much?" He asks with a straight face, "What do you think?"
Then he spots fabric by Sandra Lee from Semi-Homemade on the Food Network.  If you don't know this woman you won't get the joke but, of course, Brian starts channeling her voice, "And this is just regular fabric from the fabric store."
At one point Brian becomes silent and I can't find him.  I start looking up and down all the aisles.  Finally I find him laughing to himself in the book section.  I can only imagine what he's found.
"Brian.  What are you doing?  C'mon.  Let's go."
"Wait," he says, "I think we need to get this."

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Sun-night Fun-night

One of my favorite parts of summer is that every night feels like a weekend night.  In the winter the sun is down before dinner and everything, including mother nature, feels like it's screaming, "Go to bed!"

But not summer.  Summer keeps the lights on until 9 o'clock so we can play outside to our heart's content.  And even for those who have jobs to shower and dress for, it just feels easier to rise when you're greeted by a giant ray of sunshine.  Of course, I say this as a wife of a husband who rises literally hours before I do out of his own free will.  He and I do not have the same internal clock.

Sunday night was one of those perfect nights.  Clear skies.  No wind.  And just the right amount of humidity to keep it warm enough after the sun sets to still be comfortable in light clothing.

Sunday nights are usually a bit frantic.  And, if I'm being a honest, a tad bit depressing too.  It means it's the end of daddy being home with us all day every day.  It means five longs days ahead of me of cleaning, laundering, meal planning, errand-running, and...what am I forgetting?  Oh yeah, being a mom.  Not that being a mom is depressing, but it gets pretty lonely when I'm doing it by myself all day.

We threw out the same old, same old routine on Sunday and christened the new fire pit we got Brian for Father's Day.  It felt so rebellious and spontaneous to be sitting out there, cocktail in one hand, s'more in the other, without a care in the world while the rest of the neighborhood seemed to be getting ready for the work week.

There may have been some good-spirited fighting over this fire.  Brian and I each thinking we knew the best way to light it, the best place for the next log.  We kept arguing over who had to hold the baby so that other could "play" with the fire.  What is it about a fire that makes you want to keep poking and prodding at it?
And then there was the aluminum lining.  The fire pit came with an aluminum insert that, in theory, could be placed inside the fire bowl and used as a beverage cooler for a party.  It was cheap and not practical.  But it turned out to be useful anyway.
First it was a hat.
Then an awesome hiding spot.
Then it was a shield from fire-breathing dragons.
Then it was the fastest sled on the block after a massive snow storm.
And finally, it was your run-of-the-mill UFO.
But really it was just the best regular Sunday night in a long, long time.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Dr. Mom

On Saturday I woke up to the sound of William yakking.  Again.  Second time in two weeks actually.  But this time I'm sure it wasn't a bug.  In fact, I don't think the first time was a bug either.

Putting on my mommy detective hat, overcoat and super cool monocle I gathered these facts about both incidents:

1. He went to bed without eating dinner the night before on both occasions.  Not because of reasons that would necessitate a call to CPS, mind you, but because he didn't like what I was serving.  There are no second choices for dinner in our house.  I do try to respect his likes and dislikes so I won't purposely serve chicken, his most hated food, every single night, but we do have a family of four and the world, including my recipe box, does not revolve around him.  So because he didn't eat dinner and because I don't typically offer an afternoon snack, the last time he had eaten was at lunch the day before.

2. Both times he awoke in the middle of the night asking for water. I always remember when he wakes before morning because it's very rare for him to ever do that.

3. Both mornings he woke up earlier than usual and complained that his side hurt and that he couldn't walk.  He then asked for more water.

4. Both mornings we put him on the couch in front of PBS Kids in hopes that (a) he would start to feel better and (b) we could get a few more minutes of shuteye before Lucy woke.

5. Both mornings he threw up all over himself before he ate breakfast.  It was only water, no food.

6.  Both days he went back to bed and slept until around noon at which time he was 100% back to normal and started eating everything in sight without so much as a hint of nausea.

7. So far, no one else in the house has had any sort of stomach problems.

What would you conclude from these facts?

Me?  I think it's hunger pains turned into an actual stomach ache turned into retching.  Is that possible?  Can you really throw up from being overly hungry?  And if so, what's a mother to do about it?  I can't honestly serve noodles or pizza for dinner every night of the week.

Brian and I talked about giving him a small bowl of cereal just before he goes to bed if he hasn't eaten dinner but even that seems like something he'll catch on to very quickly.

"I don't like this bean salad so I'll just wait until later for my bowl of cereal."

We have been honest with him about it.  He obviously doesn't enjoy throwing up so we've told him that he needs to eat his dinner even if he doesn't like it.  And I think he understands that.  But still, he sits there twirling his fork, his head resting on his other hand, without putting a single bite in his mouth.

If anyone has suggestions I'm ready and waiting!
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