Headlights in the Fog

Smile and Nap

The other day after I was convinced Jack wasn't going to take a nap and I was going insane and needed just 1/2 an hour to decompress from Mommy-ville, I sat him down in front of the computer to watch Jack's Big Music Show on the Noggin.com website. I left him there and went to the livingroom. When I came back 10 minutes later to check on him... he had fallen asleep IN THE COMPUTER CHAIR! Yikes! Needless to say, he woke up 20 minutes later feeling quite out of sorts. Yes, the up and down drama of napping continues.

Here is another picture of Kitty smiling. Yesterday, we met Thom for lunch at the mall. I managed to get Kitty to have her first ever full body belly laugh by holding her above my head and tickling her stomach... since this discovery, I've been making her laugh at will and just for my own amusement.

Smile!

My mom asked me today if Kitty ever smiles... seems like all the photos I put on my blog have her looking very serious. Well... here's evidence she does, in fact, smile. This is a rather bemused smile... and not the full face smile she is capable of, but it is the best I could get at 5pm. I got her to smile this way by pretending I was looking away and then suddenly swiveling my head back to make eye contact with her... for some reason she finds this funny.

You know you're a mom when...

You know you're a mom when you spend 10 minutes looking for a duck at Joann Fabrics to create a 'duck hat' for your son. Jack is fond of a certain DVD we have of Mozart's 'Magic Flute.' In it, Papageno wears a hat with a duck on it. Jack quite frequently now pretends he has a 'duck hat' on and plays his bells. He will have whole run-on sentence streams of conciousness conversations that no one understands but Thom and myself. Something like, "This is my Duck Hat and I am looking for my pipes and then my bells break and I fall down then I jump up here like this and play the bells because I am looking for Papagena." This is spoken lickity-split fast in Jack's preschool-ese... not easy to understand for the untrained observer.
Yesterday and today Jack has taken good naps... I have a new secret plan... EXHAUST HIM! Yesterday I took him to the park and he ran around like a maniac for an hour... today we hung out in the backyard and he played in the dirt/sand and with his new soccer goal.
Kitty has adopted a new move... we call it the 'bobble head.' When she's sitting in her highchair, she will move her head back and forth... similar to how Stevie Wonder does when he's singing and playing the piano. She's so darn cute! Yesterday while Jack was sleeping on the sofa in the livingroom, Kitty and I were hanging out in the playroom looking out the front window. Solomon jumped up in to the window. Kitty started grabbing his fur and pulling him towards her... had anyone else done this, the cat would have bitten them. Since it was Kitty, Solomon put up with it and even let her drool all over his back. He did decide he had had it when she tried to chew on his tail. Even so, I was quite impressed by his gentleness with her. Such nice cats we're blessed to have!

Twins!

We had a lovely trip to Schnectady to see Sam, Aaron, Arthur and Miles.
Saturday, we went for a walk downtown to get some lunch... the boys we conked out the entire time... while Kitty chewed on her beloved IKEA spoon. The trip was wonderful... so nice to see my dear friend Sam as a mommy.... so nice to get to meet these two new beings... they are twins and yet very different from each other.

Millie the dog was hopeful Jack would drop some food... alas it was not to be.
Speaking of food, Sam and Aaron made us the most tasty dinner of grilled kebabs and homemade bread Saturday night... homemade eats and the parents of twins! Amazing. Sunday morning Aaron whipped (literally) up some gourmet pancakes... they were scrumptious and unlike any other pancakes I've ever had. I told Aaron if his whole Physicist career doesn't work out, he could become a chef! It was hard to leave... I really wish we lived closer so we could casually hang out more often. Good friends are really a blessing.

On the road again

We're hitting the road in an hour to go visit my college roommate Sam, her hubby Aaron and their two new baby twin boys: Arthur and Miles. I've been running around like a maniac trying to remember everything we need to take (an example: Jack's stuffed rabbit Mary.) The one thing I can't find is Jack's lap desk, so he can draw in the car. (((sigh))) I'm excited to see my friends and the babies... I'm off now to buy some magazines for the trip.
Since I won't get to blog till at least Monday... I thought I'd put up a picture of Kitty in the adorable dress Grandma Gretchen brought her last week. Enjoy!

Tired of the wind/cold

Here is a picture of Kitty petting Solomon whilst on the diaper pad yesterday. The picture Thom missed, though, was the one of what happened right after this scene... when Kitty took the spatula and got it somehow under Solomon's bottom. Now THAT would have been a picture to see!
I must say, I am tired of the wind and the cold. It makes such a difference in the course of the day to get the kids and myself out in to the yard and we just haven't been able to do that in a while. For once, I am looking forward to the warmth and sunshine of true spring. I've always fancied myself a winter/cold weather person... but with kids that means being cooped up in the house for weeks on end.
I actually got Jack to take a nap today (he's asleep right now.) My Aunt Phyllis took us to Ruby's for lunch and after we got home Jack just looked exhausted and I thought, "Enough is enough." It took 45 minutes of me being next to him in his bed (and numerous thwarted attempts at getting out of bed) before he fell asleep. This no napping thing really changes his behavior... he doesn't listen as well without a nap and gets in to more trouble (as a result of not listening.)
Today I had a thrift victory of sorts... we have a few towels that are fraying on the edges and they drive me nuts. I had made up my mind to buy some new towels... but could never bring myself to spend the $$$ that nice, new towels cost. Today I got out my handy dandy serger and serged the edges of the fraying towels... good as new and super-dooper soft (from years of use) to boot. I am quite proud of myself.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is our printer. Over the course of the past week it has stopped printing anything, one color at a time. I did all the troubleshooting/nozzle/head cleaning I could do without professional help... and then I called Epson. Turns out it is a hardware issue... so they gave me a couple of options... one of which is $40 off a new Epson printer. Seeing as this one only cost $99 brand new, I didn't think it was worth sending it back to Epson to be charged $$$ to have it looked at and fixed. Seems stupid to throw out a printer that is only a year and a half old... but I think they plan it this way so you'll keep buying newer and newer models. Grrrrrrrrrr. Before I spend any money, I am going to take it apart and see if I can do anything to make it work again... it's worth a (free) shot.
One of Jack's pre-naptime conversations with me was about how his stuffed animals Mary and Fake Lulu are babies. He then pulled up his shirt and said, "I'm going to breastfeed Fake Lulu."

Birthday Party!

We had Jack's 'big' party yesterday... I put big in quotes because it was actually quite small by design. He had his three oldest buddies over: Leah, Lily and Olivia. The theme of the party was firefighters... you can see everyone wearing their firehats... Jack got a very rare and special black firehat as a present. From behind, he looks like Darth Vader in it. Thom had the marvelous idea of having the three girls 'help' Jack open his presents... it made for little kid frenzy... but a fun, directed frenzy. Luckily, Jack isn't of the age where he feels possesive over his presents.
The little girls were entranced by Kitty:

They all wanted to hold her, touch her, be near her. Jack has never displayed this much interest in his sister... so I think it must be a girl thing. All in all, a nice party.
Today I took Jack to see 'Curious George.' It was his first trip to a big movie theater... he seemed to take it all in stride. About 3/4 through the movie Jack said to me, "I want to go home." As we were leaving he was saying to himself, "I like the popcorn at home, I like watching things at home..." I think at this point he is a bit of a homebody... and that's fine by me as Kitty's nap schedule doesn't afford us much time out of the house on a daily basis.

Jack's Birthday

Jack turned 3 today at 4:17am. None of us were awake at that exact moment to pay respects to the occasion... but we've been celebrating all day.

Jack opened his presents from us in a flurry of paper and giggling this morning at 7:30am. He got a guitar and 2 books. Our sitter arrived at 8 with a wooden firehouse and firefighters. Jack loved it and I commented it is the little boy equivelent of a doll house. I went to exercise, came home and showered and then took Jack to one of his favorite toy stores and then to Ruby's for a special lunch out with mom. Can you believe he's 3? He suddenly looks so much older to me... (((sigh))) my little boy!

First Haircut

Jack got his first, official, big-boy-in-the-haircutting-chair haircut today. You can see from the photo he was ecstatic about it. I've been cutting Jack's hair ever since he started needing a haircut. He's become resistant to the idea of me cutting it... so I thought I would take him to a Kid's haircutting place. Jack was excited at first... but as the car got closer and closer to the salon, he started making these whimpering noises in the backseat and saying, "I'm a little scared." He did the medium sized freak out when we got there... but after the stylist started, he calmed down. It also didn't hurt that he was sitting in my lap:

Today is windy and COLD... it is hard to believe that the below picture of Kitty, baby Annabelle and my friend Renee was taken just two days ago:

We were hanging out in the 80* heat, pretending it was summer.

A Day of Beauty

Today has been a really wonderful day filled with such beauty and laughter.
We spent some time out on the lawn... Kitty wore her new sun hat. Thom and Jack were up to their usual antics...

This afternoon I had the good fortune to find myself at a Blessingway for my friend Chara. She is due with her third child in April. A Blessingway is a shower of a different sort... more of a coming together to celebrate and give support and prayers for the birth and future. It was a tremendous feeling of fellowship with some really amazing women. I was so excited to drive there... I felt like I was filled with helium... good music on the car stereo, warm sunshine on my face and the promise of a meaningful coming together of powerful female energy. We were each asked to bring something of importance to us and then to share a prayer for the birth to come. It was so moving and spirit-filled. I gave Chara the sling that we have used with both Jack and Kitty. I feel like the fabric is infused with the vibes of love and nuturing we've given to both of our children as babies. Each person really spoke from the heart... a couple of times I teared up at the love and emotion. I know I'll cherish the memories of this day for many years to come.