In case there is any doubt

that my son is in fact a genius:

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The big happy face is the Daddy happy face. The smaller one is SkyWalker (note the perspective--he's looking at the Daddy) and the smallest is the princess. He made it for her so it's hanging in her room right now.

And then today he did this:

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Might be hard to see... but that is a happy face sun. That is hanging on our refrigerator.

And just for fun here is a picture of the two of them playing together:

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One slipper belongs to him and one to her.

The Princess has done nothing but nurse and sleep today. She didn't have a fever but she was just SO tired. Maybe she got it from me. Maybe it's contagious. Because I could totally fall asleep right now.

Why am I so soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?

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Duh

2 weeks will not hurt the Princess. I will switch her to cow's milk during the day before we go to NC to make both the road trip and the actual trip easier and just continue to nurse first thing in the morning and at bedtime. I'll be giving her yogurt as soon as her diaper rash clears up (if it ever frickin' does) so I'll be able to see if she has any problem with dairy... and if she does, well 2 weeks wouldn't have mattered anyway. She should have seen the ped. for her 9 month check up this week but her doc had the nerve to have a baby herself and is on maternity leave. So she's going next month. I'll get permission then. ;-)

I realized today why this is such a decision though... when SkyWalker turned a year old I switched him to cow's milk during the day and nursed him morning and night. Same plan right? But it was different because I was working full-time. So what I was cutting out was pumping during the day! He was getting bottles at daycare anyway... who cared what was in them? It did hurt on the weekend but not tremendously. (Poor bookishbiker had to read all about  that too!) Now, I am home all day with the Princess. So I'm going to be cutting out... myself. Sure I can stop pumping at 6 am and at work and that will be nice (although if I'm doing the bedtime feed would I still pump at work? Hmmm), but for the most part I will be replacing myself. I'm giving up a lot more.  

Of course I am talking about 2 months from now so why am I even thinking about this?

Because I am a planner. And a worrier. I'm always thinking ahead of myself.

Funny things SkyWalker has been saying:

while loading his cars into the little bathroom garbage I have, "Now, don't get in my way."
"Don't drop your hot tea Mommy." (I wasn't even close)
"Don't get in trouble." I don't know who *I* would get in trouble with. But he keeps saying this one to me.
"You member? You have to..."

After snacky-snack he asked for a chocolate (V-Day buttercups). I asked him what he had to do for a chocolate and puckered my lips waiting for a kiss. He said "Pee?" I laughed and said "No, what do you think you have to do?" and puckered my lips again even more exaggerated. He said "Drink water?" And I lost it laughing and did the whole thing again and he finally said "Kiss Mommy??" It was just hilarious. It's not like I routinely ask him to kiss me in order to get chocolate but I thought the puckered lips was a dead give-away. Although he's right in that I ask him to pee before he does ANYTHING. It's a wonderful tactic and I highly recommend it. Want to eat? Pee. Want to watch TV? Pee. Want to play downstairs/outside? Pee. Want to leave this house? Pee. It's great.

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Decisions

We've pretty much decided we're all going to North Carolina at the end of April. I do not want to be left alone for such a long time, particularly since Vader will have gone to Buffalo at least TWICE between now and then, leaving me alone with the kids and the dogs. His trial is in April and I just don't think him being gone so much would be good for the kids. Or for me. So I am picking my anti-traveling ass up and we're going. We'll be driving so we can have our stuff and set our own time table. It'll take 2 days to get there and then another 2 days back, and that will suck, but what are you going to do? I'll need to get off work and that will also suck but I have to keep reminding myself that I am part-time now. If I'm not here I don't get paid so a sub can. I am not full-time. It is not a big deal for me to not be here as long as I give enough notice so someone else can get the hours.

Now I need to decide what to do with the Princess and breastfeeding.... when we take our trip she will be 2 weeks shy of 1 year. I can't even believe that. But anyway, she's been doing 4 feedings a day since she was 4 or 5 months old. I can't remember. Instead of every 4 hours (SkyWalker was always every 3) she is now feeding at 7, 11:30 (because I wake her/make her), 4:30 and bedtime which is usually 7:30. She doesn't take much at 7:30 and I have a feeling that the middle 2 feedings will start to merge... Where was I going with this? Oh, the trip! So who knows how often she will be breastfeeding by then. I'm wondering if I should just plan on switching her to cow's milk earlier than her birthday to make the trip easier? It's not like there's a magic button that says "she is now 12 months and can have cow's milk". 2 weeks will not be the end of the world. You know my problem right? I like following rules. But I've been giving her finger foods much sooner than her pediatrician recommended... It would be so much easier to just feed her in the morning and then at bedtime (which she might actually do more of if she's down to 2 feedings) and then do cow's milk during the day. I managed to keep breastfeeding another 3 months doing that with SkyWalker. I can do it with her too...

I had a bunch more to say but it is now 8 and I am done pumping and need to get back to work. I expect numerous comments telling me what to do by tomorrow. By all 3 of you that read my blog.

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Yes, I am a nerd

I've spent the evening printing out number templates from http://www.dltk-teach.com/numbers/index.html
since we're almost done with the alphabet. I'm planning on doing it all over again, which will get us to next September when SkyWalker starts preschool. But he requested numbers so I'll throw in a week of numbers. I need to make him some felt board stories now that my felt board is done. I can't decide if I want to go all out and actually use felt like I used to do when I did storytime, or take the easy way out and just print stuff out, laminate it and stick a piece of felt to the back. On the one hand I don't have to make a million stories, but on the other hand I don't have much time to make anything. Unless I do it here. Maybe I can make the library some stories as well and assuage my guilt...

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Yawn

There is no one in the children's room. Not one single person, since I am now in the office. It is snowing and freezing rain and people are not leaving their houses. The director was here and is driving home and will call us to tell us how the roads are and whether we should close early. Since it is now 7:46 I'm not sure what "early" means. We close at 9. We can't close at 8. So what? 8:30? Half an hour? If that.

The pipes have been replaced. The plumber(s) are almost done--they just have the laundry room to connect and then that's it. Well, except for the huge holes in my walls and ceiling. We took pictures. I'll have to post them later.

The Princess will be 9 months old on Friday. She is standing up holding on to the ottoman and trying to take little baby steps. FSM help me.

Back to the silence of the children's room. Which is actually kind of lovely. ;-)

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My week

has actually been pretty damn good. Aside from some icky drama with Vader about going to North Carolina, this has been a great week. We had Bee and Boogie over for a playdate on Monday and the boys actually played *together* in the ball pit downstairs and got along well. SkyWalker hasn't been napping but he has been sleeping at night so I can't complain. The Princess is nursing better and has shocked the crap out of me by napping wonderfully! On Monday she took a good first nap, just over an hour, so I thought I was screwed. I put her down for her second nap and 30 mins in she started crying. But I was busy and irritated so I just let her cry. For all of 3-5 minutes and then she abruptly stopped, soothed herself and went back to sleep for another hour and a half! I went up there when I couldn't take it anymore. Same thing on Tuesday but just fussing no real crying. Yesterday she didn't even cry, just slept for 2 hours (after an hour and change in the morning). Today wasn't as good, but I'll take an hour and a half over the 45 minutes I was getting... she was a wee bit congested so maybe that's why she wasn't happy. It's amazing how a good nap for your kid can actually make YOU feel refreshed. It's too bad that SkyWalker won't nap anymore.

This crawling thing has actually helped a lot. I'd bet she's tiring herself out and that's why she's napping. But she's also keeping herself entertained in the living room so I can do dishes or cook and just peek in and make sure she's  not in trouble. SkyWalker is pretty good at watching her though.... the other day I paid him a dollar for a minute when I ran downstairs to the office and left them in the living room (the dogs were outside). The dogs have accepted the fact that she is now mobile and they have actually been retreating to the bedroom and napping ALL DAY. It's been so weird...so wonderfully weird.

She had grilled cheese for lunch yesterday and today and it was the greatest thing since... well... grilled cheese. I don't know how much past a year we'll be able to go with the nursing... she seems to LOVE her food so much. Who is this child?

SkyWalker has spent the last two days singing "This is the way to storytime... to storytime... to storytime." It is hilarious. He's also been singing This Old Man to himself. He's been very funny this week--the other day I said that Daddy was in the living room changing the princess's diaper and he didn't hear me say princess so he said "You're wrong Mommy." and told me what I just told him. Then I put his fork with his corn and his spoon with his chicken nuggets and he said "You're wrong Mommy!" Grrr... He's too young for that! But it's wicked funny.

And with that I am going to forage for a snack before I return to the outside working world.

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Too funny not to share

I don't usually post pictures or videos of my kids on here because I am paranoid. But this was just too funny. The quality is not that great.... I need more light in my living room. 

Siblings2

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Books that changed my life

These are not reviews--if you want reviews you can visit my book blog (although one can argue that I haven't been reviewing very well over there as of late...) and they are all parenting related.

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby

Back when I was on maternity leave with SkyWalker a storytime mom e-mailed me and recommended this book. I read it and it totally changed how I did things with him. Very shortly after I started the EASY plan SkyWalker was sleeping though the night and having nice predictable days. Until he went to daycare. I started EASY with the Princess much sooner and she started sleeping though the night much sooner... No coincidence. It helped me so much that I went out and bought the "sequel"...

The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems: Sleeping, Feeding, and Behavior--Beyond the Basics from

I can't tell you how often I look through this book when I have an issue and wind up saying "Duh... of course!". When the Princess was refusing to nap in her crib I checked this book and went through the suggestions and sure enough she started sleeping in her crib. The only area I have veered from it is in breastfeeding. I think it pushes solids a little bit too much. It does advocate waiting until the 6 month mark (I tried! I really tried!) but then after that breastfeeding takes a back seat. But the AAP recommends keeping breastfeeding the main source for the first year. And my boobs also advocate this. Other than that this book has been indispensable. So much so that I bought my sister and my sister-in-law copies of both of these books for Christmas.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Con

You'd think that after getting pregnant the first time I wouldn't have any problems doing it again. Nope. I was starting to think I was one of those infertile the second time around women when readingjag (to whom I will always be indebted!) recommended this book. I checked it out from the library, read it, started tracking my temps and all the other stuff and within 3 months I was pregnant with the Princess! I recently bought it for myself so I'd always have it. I've begun tracking my temps again for the exact OPPOSITE reason as the first time, but I should have a nice pattern so that when we do start trying for #3 maybe it won't take as long.

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