Diary of a (not so new anymore) Mom

A Big Girl First

2011-09-20T20:03:00.000-04:00

At 2 1/2 years old, I've been out of the "firsts" game for quite a while...she's been walking for well over a year, talking for a while now, and eating by herself for months and months.
But today was another kind of "first" - a big girl one.
Her first haircut.
I never thought I'd be the mom who went to the "kid's place" and got the certificate with the hair clippings in an envelope and the fancy hair cut seat....but I was (am). And it was soooo worth it.
I think I have a little fashionista in training - because she loved every minute....
Some highlights:

It was so much fun - Makes me look forward to our future spa days.

getting dressed

2011-09-18T20:16:00.000-04:00

Things around here have been very very tired lately. For whatever reason, our usually decent sleeper has become nocturnal. Literally. So Mike and I have been running on less than empty.
Just to prove my point, here's a recent conversation we had after I picked J up from daycare:

Me: Hey - I just got J in the car, and honey, you forgot her pants.
Mike - What do you mean? Wasn't that a dress?
Me: No...not a dress - her panties (we're using that term by the way) are sticking out the bottom. She was like that all day.
Mike: I took her on the subway too...sorry...my fault.

I guess I'll be laying out clothes the night before from now on.

I so wish I had a picture of this so-called 'dress' but I was too tired to take one.

Florida's Rules

2011-08-25T15:26:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went on a ~~business trip~~ vacation to Florida. We were there visiting my husband's grandfather, J's great-grandpa. He lives in one of those 55-and over developments that exist (in my opinion) only in Florida. I visited my own grandparents in these kind of places when I was a kid. And I remember my parents always being 'on edge'. It never felt totally relaxing and I never knew why...until I went with my own bundle of joy.
Here's a sampling of some of the "rules" that we had to ~~deal with~~ follow:

1. Do not have fun.
2. No child under 3 is allowed in the pool.
3. All children must be fully potty trained in order to use the pool.
4. No food or beverages near the pool area.
5. Any questions? See rule #1.

I spent the weekend:
1. Lying about my 2 1/2 year old's age - I even had her saying "I'm 3!"
2. Trying to explain to my toddler why she couldn't have a snack by the pool.
3. Although she's mostly potty trained, I had her in swim diapers - I had to lie about this as well - when asked - which I was.
4. Arguing with an 80+ year old woman about these rules.

Before the "No fun" rules!

Some asked me why we didn't just go to the beach - and it was 30+ minutes away and I don't know if you've ever been to Florida in August, but it's ridiculously HOT. To drive thirty minutes and spend an hour at the beach with all the gear just wasn't worth it.

On a sidenote: I think that the next rule should be: Over 80 must wear a diaper...I'm just sayin'.

My Girl Wants to Potty All the Time!

2011-08-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Starting solids...sleep training...moving to a big girl bed....potty training...just some of the major transitions in the past 2 and half years of my daughter's life. Each has been difficult and each has had its moments of pride and joy.

This past week it was Potty Training time. Why I chose this weekend? I don't know. But I read about and asked every person possible about the 3 day potty training boot camp and felt like I was ready. I wasn't. Just like sleep training is not for everyone and certainly not for the weak at heart, neither is this type of potty training. But I really just wanted to get it over with quickly and with as little pain as possible.

On the first day, upon wakeup it was undies only. No diapers. God I miss diapers. I rinsed out more undies than I can count and was more frustrated than I've felt in a long time. But we were done with diapers and that was that. I had to stick with it. She went pee pee when prompted, never unprompted and had many accidents (some minutes after going on the potty - which was soooo frustrating). I gave her a Skittle when she went on the potty - but she could take it or leave it - which I guess is a good thing. Day 1 sucked. period. Stuck in the house on a beautiful day with a kid pissing all over the place. awesome. I called my friend (who did this with her son) and asked her why she didn't warn me how horrible it was. But we survived. Barely.

It was that night hat I told Mike that I am taking FULL CREDIT for this achievement (once it actually happens) and that he is responsible for potty training baby #2 (he agreed). Because honestly, I can't do this again and I'm writing it here so I remember that I don't have to do it again. (Funny Mike side note: in the morning, I was in the bathroom and I hear "Daddy pee pee. Pee pee Daddy." So I'm waiting to hear the running footsteps. And you know what I hear? Nothing. Mike did nothing. Really? UGH! I have to teach kid how to go on the potty and the other kid how to take a child to the potty!)

Day 2 was so much better. She went whenever she was prompted. (never not prompted) But get this - no accidents! We even left the house (twice!). Once to take a walk and buy ingredients for some Yum Yum Brownie Muffins (we used yams instead of pumpkin - delish!) and once to buy some fruit. Toward the end of the day, we even went to our local pool (in swim diapers - not ready for that yet!) and had a nice end to our day. I felt like the tide was turning and maybe yesterday wasn't a huge waste of time.

Day 3 and 4 were weekend days- in retrospect, this was probably not the best weekend to start potty boot camp, because we were upstate for the day on Saturday and Sunday was Mike's triathlon. But Saturday was ok. Definitely some setbacks (read:accidents) but nothing horrible. She did a great job considering we were far from home in a new place. The issue was that she wasn't pooping. She was telling me she had to poop, but it wasn't happening. There were tears (hers and mine) but we stuck with it. My thinking was that I was still putting her in diapers at night, giving her ample time to poop in there if she needed to. But she didn't.
Then Sunday, I made the decision to stay home instead of rooting Mike on in the city to get J back on potty track. I'm glad I did. She had no accidents and went consistently and pooped (finally!). She even stayed dry at Grandma and Poppa's house.

Monday, she went to school and when I picked her up....she was still in the same outfit!!! No accidents all day or at home. Success!!

I''m not saying my kid is fully potty trained. But I'm feeling pretty damn good about myself right now (oh, and of course I'm super proud of J for being such a big girl!)

What has my life come to?

2011-08-04T08:00:00.002-04:00

This is what my DVR looks like on any given day:

Yup - only 2% full and only with ridiculous kids shows....

Please tell me that your DVRs are just as pathetic!!

It's ON!

2011-08-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

I try really really hard not to be competitive with other moms.
It's really hard because I am an extremely competitive person.

And unfortunately for my daughter and my wallet, my competitiveness has just set in.

You see, lots of J's little girlfriends are potty trained. J is not. She was doing well at daycare for a while, but now...not so much.

So now it's GAME ON!

I spent the morning at Target and Michael's picking up panties (back to that word in a minute) and incentive items so that we can begin the process.

"Incentive items - arts & crafts crap that I know she'll love

She doesn't like M & M's so I'm going to try Skittles

Based on lots of friends tales of potty and advice, I'm going 'all in' on this one - In a few days, we will be saying goodbye to diapers! And from what I understand, once you say goodbye, there's no turning back. So I have to mentally prepare myself for this....the mess, the inevitable frustrations, the constant reminders...but I'm ready.

Panties or Underwear??

My biggest dilemma: Do I call them underwear or panties. J's a little girl - I think the word 'panties' is appropriate - some think it's creepy. I call women's under garments 'underwear', but something about Dora and Disney screams "panties" to me...Mike thinks that I can call them 'panties,' but he can't because he'll sound like a dirty old man. Thoughts???

For the love of movies

2011-07-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

My mom asked me the other day if she could bring J to see Winnie the Pooh and at first I was little unsure about it - she's not even 2 1/2 and it could go very, very wrong. But I looked it up and it was only 69 minutes long and the theater it was playing at is known to be generous with refunds or free passes if things don't go well.

So this past Tuesday, after J's nap, we ventured to the movies. When we got into the theater, she made friends with the girl in front of us and they spent the 10 minutes before showtime running around the theater. I thought this was perfect since she had to stay in her seat for over an hour.

She went to sit in her seat and it pretty much closed in on her, so she sat on my lap for the movie. (Side note: My kid DOES NOT sit on my lap EVER!) And she loved it. I know this because she laughed when it was funny, said "oh no!" at the appropriate times, and the kicker...she cried (real tears) when it was over. Seriously. Cried for Pooh. "I want more pooh, mommy!"

And of course, since we were with grandma, more pooh she got! No, not a double feature, but a brand new 'play a sound' book. We went immediately from the theater to Barnes and Noble so my mom could run in and keep our little girl happy with "more Pooh!"

I know it sounds silly, but I was so proud of her (and secretly so happy that maybe we can rely on movies for those rainy days now!)

You call that Well-Adjusted?!?

2011-07-25T08:00:00.004-04:00

This weekend, we had a babysitter for the first time. For those that know me well, this is kind of shocking, since I am pretty willing to leave my kid home while we go out - but in truth for the last 2+ years, she's been left with only family members, with the exception of one time (thanks, Kelli & Tara!)

So, needless to say, we were a little ~~nervous~~ apprehensive about the evening. We stayed close to home (just in case...) and only went out for a couple of hours.

When our babysitter arrived, I gave her all the important information and then I gave her the list of "what to do when we leave and she cries." This included: ice pops, nail polish, beach balls and Dora band aids - I wanted to make sure she had an arsenal of super-fun things to distract J from her parents departure. (I was especially worried about the actual act of leaving since Mike had just walked in from work and we were literally going to just head back out - so no time with Daddy).

I told J we were about to leave - and she started to pout, so I said to her "go ask A-- if she'll give you an ice pop" - cue distraction. We left and from outside the apartment we didn't hear anything. And when we got home, the babysitter said that she literally did not cry at all. Awesome! We have such a well-adjusted little girl - woo hoo!!

And then the babysitter left. Cue WATERWORKS!! Seriously?!? You don't shed a tear for us, but for brand new cool, young babysitter, you cry?!? So well adjusted my ass.

Transitions & Friends

2011-07-22T07:51:00.000-04:00

You know when you have those days where you really think about certain aspects of your life? Well, today was one of those days for me...specifically with respect to my girlfriends that I've met over the last 2+ years.

Let me sidetrack for a second - a lot of my friends right now are in these 'transitional' phases in their lives (my term, not theirs). One friend feels like she's the only one of her friends still single...another feels likes she's the only one of her friends having a baby...another feels like she's the only one getting married...another...and another...I could go on about me, my friends, and my acquaintances and the various ways we/they feel out of touch with their current friends. Maybe it's the age group - we're (or at least most) are in our 30's and maybe the 30's are that weird decade where people move in different directions...

Well, either way, about 2+ years ago, I (in my 30's) was feeling pretty transitional myself. I was a new mommy, in a new neighborhood with no close friends nearby, not working (by choice), and feeling a bit detached from some of my friends because of all those circumstances...and I felt lonely.

And I realized something...I had to find new friends - not replacements for my old friends, but additions to my circle because I needed people who would listen, understand, and give me advice about my kid's sleeping, eating and shitting habits. Because let's face it, for better or worse, that was my life at that moment.

It was like dating (don't laugh - it's true). I had to muster up the nerve to ask another mommy in my gym class for her number so we could make a play date. I had to swallow my pride and ask some other moms if I could join them for lunch after music class. I had to join classes with my daughter without knowing a single person, hoping that maybe there would be another person in there I could be friends with. I had my mother set me up on a blind "date" with her friend's daughter. I went to Barnes and Noble and struck up conversations with strangers in the hopes of meeting new friends. Seriously, how different is that from trying to meet Mr. Right?

And an amazing thing happened...I made friends. And 2 years later, these women are no longer my "mommy" friends...they're my friends. period. We've all gone through a lot the past two years...from back to work sagas...to marriage issues...to new babies...or struggles with having more babies...to in-law troubles...basically all life issues. Some of my friends are back at work (like me) and others are back part time and others haven't gone back. Yet, we have formed a real bond as friends despite any differences we may have and it's really nice to see our kids grow up together. Some of these friends aren't just my friends, but Mike's friends as well.

So I guess my other realization is that as your life changes, so do the people around you and putting yourself out there is hard no matter what 'transition' you may be in.

We Picked 'Em!

2011-07-18T09:03:00.000-04:00

As a teacher, one of the things I always find myself discussing with parents is the importance of giving children "experiences." So many of my student don't do anything over the summer...some don't do anything on the weekends either. One of the things I promised to do as a parent was to give my little monkey as many experiences as possible. Whether it's going to the local petting zoo or a street fair or the beach, we really make it a priority to do something with her as often as possible.

This weekend, our 'something' was berry picking. We went last year and it was so good that we decided to make it an annual adventure. We headed out to Mattituck, Long Island to Patty's Berries and Bunches and got to pick our fill of blueberries and raspberries (blackberries aren't ready until August, so we may have to take another trip). Watching J run through the blueberry bushes with this huge smile was worth the hour and a half trip.

We told her to only pick the ones that are blue and fat and she basically spent the morning picking the best ones and shoving them in her mouth. I can honestly say she loved being there, picking the most delicious berries you've ever tasted, seeing bugs and bees at work, and running around the farm.

Once our baskets were full, we headed across the street to Harbes Farm and Vineyard for lunch, animals, farm fresh veggies, and wine tasting (for daddy and grandma - I was the designated driver).

What a great experience for J...and for us.

Now I'm busy looking for recipes with fresh blueberries...muffins....tarts....hmmm.

Doctor's Orders

2011-07-11T16:28:00.001-04:00

So this summer I had planned to keep my little monkey home from daycare at least 2-3 days a week. We have to pay for daycare all summer to hold her spot and I thought that would be a great compromise - a few days for some "me time" and a few for "mommy and J time."

This plan hit some snafus (sp?) - First, Dr's orders say I'm not allowed to lift her - more on that in another post. And well...I guess there is no other real reason. But try to do something fun and productive with your toddler without lifting them all day and let me know how that goes...So my plan got altered a bit.

But Dr.'s orders or not, I still have the summer off and I still desperately want to spend some quality time with my adorable daughter. So when my neighborhood girlfriends suggested a beach day (or really Beach Morning) I was all in. We hit the road around 9:00 to get to a great beach (short walk from the parking lot, family friendly, and not too far away). The day was amazing...really amazing. J loved the ocean, loved the sand, loved the snacks, and hanging out with her buddies.

Thanks to Katy for the pic!

It reminded me how much I miss being a stay at home mom. I loved spending the whole day with her and just enjoying her company and the company of all my friends here. We left the beach around noon with plans to nap her when we got home.

And then it happened...J napped in the car (20 minutes) which as any SAHM would tell you - is a nightmare. Yes, it's great that she closed her eyes for a bit, but I was driving while she napped, which meant that I got zero downtime. I tried to transfer her into her bed and for about 10 minutes I was fooled into thinking that maybe the transfer actually worked. It didn't.

And now here we are around 4:00 and this working mommy turned SAHM for a day is exhausted and the toddler is running around like a maniac.

So now...I'm looking forward to dropping her off at daycare tomorrow morning - after all, it is "Dr.'s orders."

Working It Out

2011-06-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

Sometimes we have to just let them cry and tantrum. J is in the midst of being two and asserting her independence. Her new thing is "I want to walk" and by walk she means run like a crazy person down the street. There's a street by my house that literally has the nickname "The Boulevard of Death" and has traffic signs like this by the crosswalks:

So needless to say, the other day, after an unusually rough night's sleep, this is the street that J wanted to walk aka run down. Normally, I let her walk/run a little ahead of me...but only when it's safe. This street is obviously not the place for that. I chased her down...I spoke to her sternly...and then she dropped to the floor in a tantrum. Awesome. Yup, I was that mom, letting her kid "work it out" on the busy sidewalk. And after 3 minutes (even though it felt like a lifetime), J calmed herself down, stood up and when I said "Are you ready to walk with mommy?" She said yes and held my hand.
Sometimes, they have to work it out for themselves.

To photoshop or not to photoshop

2011-06-15T20:10:00.000-04:00

You know, I always find it weird when a simple comment that someone makes to you in passing sticks with you for a really long time.
This is the comment (almost verbatim) a friend of mine made to me almost a year ago after emailing me pictures of our kids out together: "I hope you don't mind, but I photoshopped the mark on J's face so you would have a nice picture."

You what?!?

You photoshopped my kid's face?!? Why would you do that? I don't even remember this "mark" on her face but I'm sure it was one of many since she's a kid and an active one at that...

And so that I would have a "nice picture"?? Umm now I have an incorrect picture of my kid because now I will always remember that there was a mark on her face that someone felt was so offensive that it had to be edited out.

J at her 2nd birthday with a rash on her face

(not edited!) A reminder that she's allergic to penicillin!

Just curious what other parents out there do...do you edit? or leave your kid as-is??

5 Days

2011-05-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

Five days...120 hours...4 bedtime routines....1 soccer game

That's how long we were away from our little girl.

And I'm going to say (without any guilt) that it was amazing.

Now I don't know if the grandparents were lying to make us feel better, but according to them, she was perfect...I think the word "angel" was used. As parents, we're always obsessed with sleep and that was all I wanted - was for her to sleep well for them...and she did. Some minor bumps, but all in all "perfect" (their words, not mine).

Enough about her - let me get to us - the weather couldn't have been better, the swim up bar couldn't have had better daily cocktails, and the lazy river couldn't have been any - well - lazier. We slept well, ate well, drank well and we got to watch our best friends get married on the beach - who could ask for better than that?

I am eternally grateful to our parents who happily watched our little girl and didn't make us feel guilty about it (in fact, they told us we deserved it).

We missed our little girl, and she definitely missed us, but we didn't spend our days talking about her...and honestly the look on her face when she saw us walk through the door was worth going away for. We got to be just Melissa and Mike...just husband and wife...for 5 wonderful days.

Viva la Mexico!

2011-05-17T19:22:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow will be the beginning of our longest time away from our little girl. We have a wedding in Mexico and decided months ago to make a mini-vacation out of it. We'll be gone from Thursday (probably before she wakes) until Monday (hopefully back so we can do dinner and bedtime with her).

We've left her with grandparents a couple of times...we went to Vegas (twice) and had a couple of overnight trips as well.

But this feels different. We'll be out of the country. I don't know if our cell phones will work everywhere. Wifi is limited. So this time, we won't be in constant contact with her. Instead, it will probably be more of a 'touch base' in the morning kind of thing. It's also the first time other people will be getting her ready and taking her to school in the morning. We're trying to keep her schedule as close to normal as possible. And I have to somehow resist the urge to write out every.little.thing we do for her on a daily basis to leave for the grandparents.

Don't get me wrong, I am so looking forward to this trip...we've had a rough couple of months and can use some time away to just be Melissa and Mike, Husband and Wife.

So I guess we'll put our complete (and well deserved) trust in her wonderful grandparents and know that we're going to come back being a better Mommy and Daddy.

I'm Baaack!

2011-05-08T08:30:00.000-04:00

...Or at least I'm going to attempt to be back. It's been months since I've even logged onto my blog (coincidentally I stopped writing once I started 'working'). But I think about it. And with some encouragement from two of my friends (Katy and Sarah) and Mother's Day upon us once again, I thought what better time to get back to blogging.

I'm going to start my first back to blog post with a silly and unfortunately extremely common type of incident that happened yesterday...

We tossed the changing table months ago because it just wasn't working for us anymore, so we change my big girl on the floor. Not sure if anyone knows what toddler poop looks like, but our toddler's poop is like pellets and well, every once in a while, we have a runaway pellet. Gross I know, but we have all sorts of sh*t fall on the floor in our place and this is certainly not the worst of it.
Anyway, I didn't see the runaway, and I guess neither did Mike because he literally stepped in sh**...in our bedroom...seriously.

Two things passed through my head before laughing hysterically at his misfortune:
1. How many people can say they stepped in poop in their bedroom?
2. Is it good luck? You know like rain on your wedding day or a bird pooping on your shoulder?

Sidenote: He was wearing socks and no, he didn't change them before going out.

Managing Expectations

2010-11-01T06:00:00.001-04:00

When hubby and I were dating, he used to use this term with me all the time. "You need to manage your expectations" everytime someone did something that I thought was wrong or not what I would do. And I hated hearing it. So much so that I pretty much banned it from his vocabulary.

But it's come back to haunt me...see...it's a problem of mine. I have extremely high expectations of the people in my life. I guess I hold myself up to (what I think) is a pretty high standard and so I expect the same of others. And when they don't reach that, I get disappointed in them. And to some degree angry with them. After his "manage your expecations" speech usually comes the "why are you surprised?" speech where he goes over how people do not change and I need to stop expecting more from people than they are willing to give.

So I'm working on this.
I'm a work in progress.
This is going to be a lot of work.

Playdates After Hours

2010-10-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

In college, the parties that happened after the bars closed and after the "regular" parties were called After Hours. I think I may have majored in After Hours in college...but that's a story for another time.

These days I'm in a very weird place. I'm now a 'working mom'. Going back to work had me really nervous about how I would keep in touch with all my mom-friends (who aren't just mom-friends anymore, but just friends). But here was the unexpected surprise, I still get to see my Stay at Home Mom friends (most of them are still at home, at least part time). And I guess I have the kids to thank for that.

In the early days of being home, the kiddies were all napping twice a day - morning and afternoon, so our playdates were usually lunch dates. And they were great, we got to sit and chit chat and eat lunch while the kids played around us. This was before they were all ~~walking~~ running around. When we could actually sit and chill and lament about parenthood and our sex lives. Then the playdates kind of went away. The kids were all napping at different times, our classes were scattered, and it was hard to find a day and time that worked for us. And now, they seem to be back in action, and I couldn't be happier about it. First of all, they're happening after the kids' naptimes which is usually anywhere from 12-3. So the playdates are around 3:30/4:00 which mean my school teacher self gets to make it to them!

And now, they've gotten easier - the kids play with the toys and each other (as much as toddlers do) and except for the occassional "fight" over a toy, we get to hang out and chat about our kids, our husbands, and all the other crap going on in our lives.
I'm feeling lucky. Lucky to have met a group of women who love my kid. A group of women who still include me even though I'm a "working mom" now. A group of women who ask me how school is when I show up at the play date. A group of women who have been with me through a whole lot of sh**.

It's nice to be back in the playdate circle.

Now I just have to figure out how to get my act together and host one....hmmm maybe Veteran's Day or some other day when I have off....

Friday Flip Offs 10.15

2010-10-15T06:00:00.004-04:00

Back by popular demand (well not really demand, but I got some stuff to flip off)

#1 Absolute biggest flip off ever might be the a-holes...err - people who think it's okay to ask me when I'm going to "try for #2?" - Ummm is it your damn business?!? People: let's make this clear: You should never ask a person a) if they're pregnant (that will never go well) and b) when/if they are trying...seriously with all the crap that goes on with baby making - you still have the balls to ask me...well STOP.

#2 Hey all you know-it-alls who think teachers should get merit pay?!? Umm...children are not bottom lines. I do not sell a product nor do I have clients. I teach children to do and be the best they can. Period. We do not pay firefighters based on the amount of fires they put out or police officers on the amount of arrests made - so really? Teachers should not be paid based on how their students score on some standardized test that business people and politicians developed. Thank you very much.

A Flip Off to the parents who do not call teachers back. It's your kid's education I'm calling to discuss. C'mon...find 5 minutes to give me a ring.

#3 Flipping Off time - why is there never enough of it? I feel like by the time we finish with J's nighttime routines and have our own (dinner/showers) it's freaking bedtime. Mike and I are like two passing ships in the water. BOO!!

#4 A final Flippity Flip Off to the never-ending cold/cough my kid now has since starting daycare. As my pediatrician said so bluntly, "Daycares keep peds in business." I love you daycare, I really do, but please keep your colds to yourself. I do like to sleep at night.

Happy Friday everyone!

My goal next week is to get some more posts done over here...(see flip off #3)

You like the Friday Flip Offs as much as I do? Check out Momma Kiss for the link and other Flips wihle Kludgy Mom is busy with some other stuff!

I made my kid pick up sh*t

2010-10-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

You may look at the title of this post and say "yeah I make my kid clean up too"...and to that I will say "no - I made her pick up her sh*t"

Not on purpose of course...

Here's how it went. J was running around naked - It was pre-bath time and I figured how much "damage" could be done in a few minutes.
I'll be honest, I wasn't paying much attention and she comes over to me and says something that sounds like "Mommy I did it" as she was pointing over to her lego blocks.
I look up and say "Oh okay honey - we can do blocks - bring it over"

With that, she comes over to me with a pile of her sh*t.

Lesson Learned: I should pay closer attention

Book Review: Little Bee

2010-10-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave.
Check out my review at Katie's Bookcase

You can also see many of my older reviews at Good Reads by clicking here
View all my reviews

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

It was a really rainy week last week...we needed our rain boots. And apparently J needed Grandma's boots!

18 months going on 18 years

2010-10-05T06:29:00.000-04:00

So after our night from hell, we hightailed it over to Buy Buy Baby to get some new gear for our big girl.

On our list:

Crib Tent and/or Toddler Bed

Potty Seat - not starting to train, but figured while I was there, might as well get it

Baby Proofing stuff (especially if we get the bed)

So here's how it went...the Crib Tent looks like a freaking cage. I know it works for many families. But I seriously think J would go batshit if we put that over her crib. And Mike? He was not into this at all.

So we went for the toddler bed. I know she's a bit young for a bed, but I also thought she was a bit young to be climbing out of her crib. So it is what it is. I was also thinking that at daycare she naps on a close to the ground cot, so maybe the transition wouldn't be too crazy.

We bought something that looks like this one. The one we got matched the rest of the furniture in her room and is a little curvier than this one, but you get the idea.

While we were there, we picked up a Dora potty seat, which she was happily sitting on in the store and for $30 we figured why not...

Sunday went a little like this:

Before heading to our friends' house to watch some football, I was going to the bathroom and I asked J if she wanted to sit on the potty. She nodded (I think) and jokingly I was telling her to "PUSH!" Honestly, it was more for the funny way she says "push" than anything else...but holy shit (pun intended) she pooped in the potty. I didn't know what to do. I was excited over her poop. Now I know it was a total fluke, but as my friend from work said, at least she now knows what "push"means...

On our way home from our friends she fell asleep, we transfered her into the bed and a couple of hours later, she was pretty much out of her mind. It must be pretty crazy waking up in a strange place in your own room...so into our bed she came - So I guess Night #1 = FAIL!

Now we're on night 2 and with a much longer wind down she did fall asleep in there - so fingers are crossed that she'll last longer in there than last night...

Oh transitions...they're so much fun!

Night from Hell

2010-10-04T06:00:00.003-04:00

I had the night from hell Thursday night...and you know what sucks about this night? It started off so peaceful and relaxing and then went to shit.

Hubby was away on business (in my mind this means he's sleeping comfortably in a kings sized bed with no responsibilities to anyone but himself) and I actually got J to bed at the normal hour of 7:15 (she's been giving us some going to bed issues so this was great). I call Mike and he says how great it is that we can both get a good night's sleep (obviously his guilt talking) and to enjoy the down time. KISS OF DEATH people!

Here's how my night played out....

9:15 - Wailing coming from sleeping toddler's room. I go in and get her back to sleep
9:45 - More wailing...ok - I'll go right in...just have to pee...THUD! (I do not have a font size big enough for this thud). I freak the fuck out. I run into J's room and she's on the floor. She climbed out of her crib!! She's on the floor on all fours. I am scared shitless. Seriously. I know most kids do this, but I have never heard anyone say that the thud is ridiculous and I can't stop my mind from wandering to all those "she could've..." places. Seriously, I'm not a religious person, but there's a god somewhere watching over little children.
10 - 10:15 - Call hubs in hysterics and I think hang up on him cause he's no help. Call mom who kinda laughs at how "advanced" J is - she's only 18 months after all.

Now here's where the fun part start

10:30 - 12:30 - I tried everyone of my mommy tricks to get her back to bed:
Rocking her - FAIL!
Milk - FAIL!
Dancing - FAIL!
In bed with me - FAIL!
Back in the crib - BIG ASS FAIL!
TV - FAIL!

Finally after TWO hours of this insanity, I gave up - I laid down on our living room floor, left the TV on and closed my eyes. At some point, she did too, because the next thing I remember is being woken up at 6 am with "Mommy milk Mommy milk"

Now I am so freaking tired and just finished my Buy Buy Baby list which now includes a Crib Tent and a Toddler Bed (we'll see how either one of those works out!).

Fitting It All In

2010-09-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

I took a break from blogging that last week or so because I was just too damn overwhelmed with life to even think about getting some coherent thoughts together and write them.
I'm back at work, teaching 27 third graders and in one simple word, I was tired. I stayed home for a year and a half and trust me when I say I was tired then, but now it's pure exhaustion.

I am a believer in the fact that there is no break for any mom - working or stay at home. But right now I'm just figuring out how to do a quick switch from teacher to mommy without getting burnt out at either one of my 'jobs.'

I'm in the third week of school right now and it's starting to get better...and I took this week to do some stuff for me. Wednesday night I went out with my girlfriends, Friday night I went to my first book club meeting (which was filled with lots of wine) and Saturday night, we had a double date while J slept at my parent's house. Maybe it was because I was so busy and didn't have time to think about my triedness or maybe because J was back to sleeping well (now that she was feeling better), but I felt a bit more human this week.

So now we're back to the question of fitting it all in - work time, mommy time, family time, and me time....