.... try try again. Even though I feel my time more than ever now is pulled in 1000 different directions, between dance and doctors and work and family, I decided to restart this to give myself 5 minutes of me time whenever I feel I need it. I read a blog this morning on Scary Mommy called "If your life feels overwhelming, try the one minute rule". And I somewhat subscribe to this already. Sometimes the first item on my to do list is "make to do list". I tend to take care of the low hanging fruit first, which is why homework gets graded and labs pile up, or laundry gets done, but my closet is a mess.
But I have to be easier on myself. I am now the mother of three kids. Just over a year ago, a new joy entered our life. Emily was born August 21st at 9:45pm. And this year has been quite the year. Though (knock on wood) I feel I can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, I called her issues death by a thousand paper cuts. Thank goodness nothing seriously life threatening, but it was always one more thing. I think I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for her because of what we went through together (which is good when she had me up this morning at 4:40am)
Somewhat like cleaning my closet, there is no way I can recap the last years of my life, so I'm not even going to bother to try. I have three kids, two dogs, a full time job, and a house that looks like a bomb made of a mix of dog hair baby toys and clothes went off in it. But I am am going to try to take my own "one minute rule" and maybe just muse more often about what is happening in our lives. Again, not for anyone else, but just for me.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Monday, April 18, 2016
Happy things and TimeHop
I really enjoy the Facebook "On This Day" feature, and I regularly check that and the TimeHop app every morning. Sometimes I think I post on Facebook or Instagram not for the instant gratification of sharing what I'm doing with my social network, but so that I have something fun to look back on a year later. I have noticed I've been posting less photo albums than in the past, and though my current friends may be grateful for that, future me is a little sad.
The reason I bring this up is TimeHop has supplanted what this blog was supposed to be - a means of looking back as my children are rapidly growing up. So though this is clearly just for me, I've decided to just start writing little memories or funny things when they happen.
T.J. is out of town on business, so I was putting both kids to bed tonight. Sarah, exhausted from a long day of play and no nap goes down quickly and easily. Liam, who probably has outgrown his nap and yet takes a two hour nap daily at school is much harder to get down. Usually we have at least two or three visits downstairs and another request for water, and at least two requests for snuggles. But it's late, and I have grading to do, so after the last snuggle tonight I asked him what was the happiest thing he knew.
(Imagine the following dialogue with a remarkably pensive look for a three year old on his face, complete with pointer finger to his mouth)
"Rainbows? No. Seeing my teachers? No. Playing with my friends? No? I don't know what the happiest thing is. Everything is happy".
I hope he keeps that innocence forever (and I also hope he stays asleep)
The reason I bring this up is TimeHop has supplanted what this blog was supposed to be - a means of looking back as my children are rapidly growing up. So though this is clearly just for me, I've decided to just start writing little memories or funny things when they happen.
T.J. is out of town on business, so I was putting both kids to bed tonight. Sarah, exhausted from a long day of play and no nap goes down quickly and easily. Liam, who probably has outgrown his nap and yet takes a two hour nap daily at school is much harder to get down. Usually we have at least two or three visits downstairs and another request for water, and at least two requests for snuggles. But it's late, and I have grading to do, so after the last snuggle tonight I asked him what was the happiest thing he knew.
(Imagine the following dialogue with a remarkably pensive look for a three year old on his face, complete with pointer finger to his mouth)
"Rainbows? No. Seeing my teachers? No. Playing with my friends? No? I don't know what the happiest thing is. Everything is happy".
I hope he keeps that innocence forever (and I also hope he stays asleep)
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Here We Go Again
I think one of the reasons I was posting so infrequently is I was thinking of posting for the world to see, when the original point of this blog was just for me to have a place to keep memories down and be able to ascribe some sort of timeline to them when I look back later through the fog of childhood. I have recently found myself posting small things on Facebook, now for the reason that I really care to share them now, but I look forward to seeing those memories a year or two years later come back up via Timehop or on this day. And with the amount of time I waste watching T.V. or on Sporcle, I can find 5 minutes every couple weeks to type out a quick post as to what is going on in my life, or more importantly in my children's life. Because they are so big! I have no babies anymore. I realized that the other day when Liam started making sarcastic comments. Little babies don't respond to you with "That was the plan" when you lay out what is ahead of them. I find myself looking at his eyes or ears or nose and just see how perfect they are, but how he is no longer a little baby.
So in the past year, where do I start? I think I'll have to just pretend as though 2014 didn't exist, though if I ever get caught up on grading, perhaps I'll add the Disney trip we were blessed to take again this past June. Sarah is in kindergarten. How did that happen? That is like real school, though I am calling in Kindergarten Part 1 as we're not sure yet what we're doing next year. And after spending the better part of the last half a decade with Lupita caring for our children, Liam has also moved on to Open Arms. I remember making a comment to the director of the school that whenever Liam acted up, just remember that Sarah was also a Flynn, but apparently their behavior at school is very different than home, because Liam is apparently very well behaved, and Sarah, well, Sarah thinks that she is the fourth teacher in the class. But when in twenty years I print this out (or whatever technology exists then), I do want to put on the public record that I'm also very proud of her for being a great helper and excellent reader (again, how did my baby start reading?)
T.J. comments that I always look for something to do instead of grading, so this may be my new outlet. The holidays are coming up, my favorite time of year, so I'm sure there will be lots of photo opportunities. And if it falls back to the wayside again, at least I have "On This Day" as my fail safe.
So in the past year, where do I start? I think I'll have to just pretend as though 2014 didn't exist, though if I ever get caught up on grading, perhaps I'll add the Disney trip we were blessed to take again this past June. Sarah is in kindergarten. How did that happen? That is like real school, though I am calling in Kindergarten Part 1 as we're not sure yet what we're doing next year. And after spending the better part of the last half a decade with Lupita caring for our children, Liam has also moved on to Open Arms. I remember making a comment to the director of the school that whenever Liam acted up, just remember that Sarah was also a Flynn, but apparently their behavior at school is very different than home, because Liam is apparently very well behaved, and Sarah, well, Sarah thinks that she is the fourth teacher in the class. But when in twenty years I print this out (or whatever technology exists then), I do want to put on the public record that I'm also very proud of her for being a great helper and excellent reader (again, how did my baby start reading?)
T.J. comments that I always look for something to do instead of grading, so this may be my new outlet. The holidays are coming up, my favorite time of year, so I'm sure there will be lots of photo opportunities. And if it falls back to the wayside again, at least I have "On This Day" as my fail safe.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
More Than 50
A couple of years ago I wrote a post about the words that Sarah knew at 18 months. I just went back and referenced, and her vocabulary at that point was about 21 words or so. Now I know she's a girl, and I know you should never compared one child to another but at Liam's 18 month appointment I was concerned that Liam knew very few works. I didn't write down what he knew (or didn't) but I'm pretty sure it was limited to Mommy, Daddy, Sarah and maybe a few other words, and it was enough that our pediatrician said if he wasn't making marked progress by 2 years that he would be referred for speech therapy.
With Sarah I would have been freaking out. She was also a late talker, but I read somewhere somehow that children who are exposed to more than one language growing up are often later to talk because it takes their brains some time to sort out which language is which. So when Liam was also not talking, I figured he'd catch up, because anyone who has had a conversation with Sarah, um, ever, realizes that she is quite the verbose child. And I had video proof I wasn't being crazy because we took Sarah to Disney at 20 months, so we have plenty of iPhone proof of her talking up a storm. Then I went to Korea for 10 days, and when I came back, it was a different child than when I left. He talked! Not that he didn't before, but his vocabulary was exponentially larger. I can't do the same post for Liam that I did for Sarah, because he knows too many words, and it keeps growing everyday. We have a "color" book with lots of different pictures, and going through and pointing out the objects is one of his favorite bedtime games (though he's still not too good at the actual colors). You can't play "Headbandz" around him Liam, because he'll just walk up to you, point at your head and say "swing", thereby ruining the game. He even knows more idiomatic speech at this point. If you tell him that he has to do something he doesn't want to (get his diaper changed) before he can do something he wants (build a tower) he looks at you and says "deal".
I think I babied Liam longer than Sarah mostly because he was still a baby. He has his baby fat and he didn't talk, and even though he was approaching two, he was still my baby. But I can't do that anymore. He is a toddler. He talks, he sasses, he laughs, he plays, he's a growing boy. And I don't know why stringing words together makes him seem so much older, but it does. His speech currently resembles more caveman than future Harvard alumni, but he is improving. While sitting beneath the "People Remover" at Disney (more about that later) he heard the ride above him and said "I hear Mickey!". His first complete sentence referencing Disney? That's my boy!
But back to his two year check up. Our pediatrician had written down at 18 months to discuss his speech again. So she asked me how I thought he was doing. And I responded I had no worries. So she asked, "does he have at least 10 words?" And I nodded.. "More than 30?" Tia asked? And again, I didn't even have to think twice about that number. "More than 50?" she queried again? And I felt pretty confident in answering in the affirmative.
And yes, when I went home I did count just to make sure he had more than 50. I pulled out that color book that he likes identifying pictures in, and I reached 50 words before I got to the "Green" page, which is the fourth page in the book. I'm sure there will be many more things to worry about in the future, but speech (for now) isn't one of them.
With Sarah I would have been freaking out. She was also a late talker, but I read somewhere somehow that children who are exposed to more than one language growing up are often later to talk because it takes their brains some time to sort out which language is which. So when Liam was also not talking, I figured he'd catch up, because anyone who has had a conversation with Sarah, um, ever, realizes that she is quite the verbose child. And I had video proof I wasn't being crazy because we took Sarah to Disney at 20 months, so we have plenty of iPhone proof of her talking up a storm. Then I went to Korea for 10 days, and when I came back, it was a different child than when I left. He talked! Not that he didn't before, but his vocabulary was exponentially larger. I can't do the same post for Liam that I did for Sarah, because he knows too many words, and it keeps growing everyday. We have a "color" book with lots of different pictures, and going through and pointing out the objects is one of his favorite bedtime games (though he's still not too good at the actual colors). You can't play "Headbandz" around him Liam, because he'll just walk up to you, point at your head and say "swing", thereby ruining the game. He even knows more idiomatic speech at this point. If you tell him that he has to do something he doesn't want to (get his diaper changed) before he can do something he wants (build a tower) he looks at you and says "deal".
I think I babied Liam longer than Sarah mostly because he was still a baby. He has his baby fat and he didn't talk, and even though he was approaching two, he was still my baby. But I can't do that anymore. He is a toddler. He talks, he sasses, he laughs, he plays, he's a growing boy. And I don't know why stringing words together makes him seem so much older, but it does. His speech currently resembles more caveman than future Harvard alumni, but he is improving. While sitting beneath the "People Remover" at Disney (more about that later) he heard the ride above him and said "I hear Mickey!". His first complete sentence referencing Disney? That's my boy!
But back to his two year check up. Our pediatrician had written down at 18 months to discuss his speech again. So she asked me how I thought he was doing. And I responded I had no worries. So she asked, "does he have at least 10 words?" And I nodded.. "More than 30?" Tia asked? And again, I didn't even have to think twice about that number. "More than 50?" she queried again? And I felt pretty confident in answering in the affirmative.
And yes, when I went home I did count just to make sure he had more than 50. I pulled out that color book that he likes identifying pictures in, and I reached 50 words before I got to the "Green" page, which is the fourth page in the book. I'm sure there will be many more things to worry about in the future, but speech (for now) isn't one of them.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
One Day
Maybe over the next 18 years or so I'll have many more stops and reboots of this blog, but it was my (now 2 year old!) son that inspired me this time. The other morning on the way to dropping him off at daycare he asked "one day playground?" as we drove past a tot lot. And I had to answer "No, not today" to which he responded "Why?". How do you explain to a 2 year old that we can't go to the playground because Mommy has to go to work? And though at that moment I promised to make it up to him with multiple playground dates in the future, I realized that if I keep waiting for the "perfect" day to go to the playground we would never make it there. So the next morning, we were (shockingly) running early, and we stopped and had an impromptu playground date, he in his shorts and tee shirt and me in my heels and dress. But it made the rest of the day so much better!
What does this have to do with this blog? I think I stopped writing because I was overwhelmed with all I had missed. I had so many grand plans to document all of the big life moments, that when I missed one (or two or 181, Sarah's current favorite number) instead of just moving on and documenting the next, I kept convincing myself that I would eventually get back and do everything I missed. And instead I just kept missing more events. And it's not like this even takes that long. I find time for facebook or pinterest or the occasional game on sporcle, so why not find 10 minutes to write down what is going on in my kids lives? "One day", I tell myself, and that perfect day would never come. And now I have a two year old and a daughter in pre-K and I'm quickly learning that live goes by far too quickly to wait for the perfect day. The best kid moments are in the moment, and perhaps I will try to document those.
For example, Liam has learned a new set of words - nothing and no one. It's funny and hard not to laugh when you get sass from someone who still doesn't know the proper way to use a fork, but the other day when picking him up from daycare, I asked him what he did that day. Normally I get some response such as "play" or "goldfish" or "coloring" which can then be followed up with more questions. Last Monday? Liam, what did you do at Luptia's today? Liam: Nothing. Me: Who did you play with? Liam: No one. And then I started to laugh and he started to laugh and just repeat it over and over again. Sarah is a little reporter. She's not even to the car before I get the full report of what happened in school, who went to the quiet corner and what they did, so it was even funnier that I was being stonewalled by the person who does not yet speak in complete sentences.
One short other story, more for me than anyone else. I love love love hearing my children laugh. While driving home this evening, not sure how it came up, but Sarah said "I'm going to eat a car". And Liam thought it was hilarious! But what impressed me is after laughing, he responded "I bite car", "I bite bus". He not only "got" the joke, but continued it on his own. Silly story I know, but those were the stories I've missed over the past year. No, it's not our trip to Disney, or her third (or his second) birthday, or Christmas or Easter or snow, but it's our life, and I love it, and I want to document it and remember it. Not one day, today.
What does this have to do with this blog? I think I stopped writing because I was overwhelmed with all I had missed. I had so many grand plans to document all of the big life moments, that when I missed one (or two or 181, Sarah's current favorite number) instead of just moving on and documenting the next, I kept convincing myself that I would eventually get back and do everything I missed. And instead I just kept missing more events. And it's not like this even takes that long. I find time for facebook or pinterest or the occasional game on sporcle, so why not find 10 minutes to write down what is going on in my kids lives? "One day", I tell myself, and that perfect day would never come. And now I have a two year old and a daughter in pre-K and I'm quickly learning that live goes by far too quickly to wait for the perfect day. The best kid moments are in the moment, and perhaps I will try to document those.
For example, Liam has learned a new set of words - nothing and no one. It's funny and hard not to laugh when you get sass from someone who still doesn't know the proper way to use a fork, but the other day when picking him up from daycare, I asked him what he did that day. Normally I get some response such as "play" or "goldfish" or "coloring" which can then be followed up with more questions. Last Monday? Liam, what did you do at Luptia's today? Liam: Nothing. Me: Who did you play with? Liam: No one. And then I started to laugh and he started to laugh and just repeat it over and over again. Sarah is a little reporter. She's not even to the car before I get the full report of what happened in school, who went to the quiet corner and what they did, so it was even funnier that I was being stonewalled by the person who does not yet speak in complete sentences.
One short other story, more for me than anyone else. I love love love hearing my children laugh. While driving home this evening, not sure how it came up, but Sarah said "I'm going to eat a car". And Liam thought it was hilarious! But what impressed me is after laughing, he responded "I bite car", "I bite bus". He not only "got" the joke, but continued it on his own. Silly story I know, but those were the stories I've missed over the past year. No, it's not our trip to Disney, or her third (or his second) birthday, or Christmas or Easter or snow, but it's our life, and I love it, and I want to document it and remember it. Not one day, today.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
I think he says Mama
At Liam's 9 month appointment I asked the doctor what milestones we should be looking for in the next three months. As he had just started crawling two days before that appointment, I wasn't expecting him to start walking in the next three months, but she did say he should start to use words "with purpose".
To start, Liam is the polar opposite of Sarah. Where she is crazy, he is chill. Where she is intense, he is giggly. Where she loves to talk (and ask why? why? why? why?) he prefers to sit and observe the situation. Where she is, well, me, he is, well, T.J. And to that extent is not really a bit talker.
So he babbles, like any baby babbles, but I wasn't sure he was using words "with purpose" and he turns 12 months this weekend. But then I started to notice every time I got him out of his car seat he would babble "mama". Or when I went to get him out of the crib in the morning he would say "mama". And when we come home in the afternoon, if T.J. was here, he would wave his arms frantically and say "dada". It doesn't seem to be consistent, but it does seem to be with some sort of purpose. And if I listen really hard, I think he may even say "aah-rah" (Sarah) as well. No other words, no ball, bubble, up, juice, milk or shoe (which was purportedly my first world) but I think we're getting somewhere.
I remember Sarah also spoke late. The doctor told us that babies that are exposed to multiple languages often start speaking later because it takes a while for their brains to sort out the two languages, but they do eventually catch up (as evidenced by my almost three year old who is verbal far beyond her 22 months). For now I'll relish the nonverbal way he communicates with me - lifting his arms up toward me when he wants to be picked up, waving his arms up and down when he gets excited (about anything), clapping with joy along with music or clearly understanding the word no as evidenced by his pouting lower lip and shrill cry soon after. And I'll relish that just shy of his first birthday, my baby knows his mama.
To start, Liam is the polar opposite of Sarah. Where she is crazy, he is chill. Where she is intense, he is giggly. Where she loves to talk (and ask why? why? why? why?) he prefers to sit and observe the situation. Where she is, well, me, he is, well, T.J. And to that extent is not really a bit talker.
So he babbles, like any baby babbles, but I wasn't sure he was using words "with purpose" and he turns 12 months this weekend. But then I started to notice every time I got him out of his car seat he would babble "mama". Or when I went to get him out of the crib in the morning he would say "mama". And when we come home in the afternoon, if T.J. was here, he would wave his arms frantically and say "dada". It doesn't seem to be consistent, but it does seem to be with some sort of purpose. And if I listen really hard, I think he may even say "aah-rah" (Sarah) as well. No other words, no ball, bubble, up, juice, milk or shoe (which was purportedly my first world) but I think we're getting somewhere.
I remember Sarah also spoke late. The doctor told us that babies that are exposed to multiple languages often start speaking later because it takes a while for their brains to sort out the two languages, but they do eventually catch up (as evidenced by my almost three year old who is verbal far beyond her 22 months). For now I'll relish the nonverbal way he communicates with me - lifting his arms up toward me when he wants to be picked up, waving his arms up and down when he gets excited (about anything), clapping with joy along with music or clearly understanding the word no as evidenced by his pouting lower lip and shrill cry soon after. And I'll relish that just shy of his first birthday, my baby knows his mama.
(Gratuitous pictures of my almost 1 year old little man!)
Of Grocery Stores and Shopping Carts
Being the mother of two has made me reevaluate the way I make even simple decisions. Take grocery shopping. Normally I can put Liam in the front and throw Sarah in the back, unless I have two many groceries, and then I have to go to Wegmans. Why? Not because of the fabulous bakery or fresh sushi but because of the fact that the carts at Wegmans have seats for two kids in the front of the cart. Teeter may be closer, Walmart might have better prices but neither one of them will help me prevent the meltdown that comes when Sarah doesn't understand why Liam can't sit in the back of the cart ... yet.
The only downside is close proximity to each other does allow for easy hair pulling. And as I have yet to break down and cut either one of their hair, there is quite a bit of real estate there. But the positive is that Sarah is an adorable big sister who loves snuggling with Liam when he gets upset. I'm not sure if it helps, but she loves putting her arm around him and saying "It's ok buddy" over and over again.
So when I have both kids and need to get more than just a couple things it's off to Wegmans. Or Costco, as they also have the two-seated shopping cart (and the added bonus of the giant cart where Sarah can sit in the back and fit along with the two kitchen sinks I inevitably buy). Now if only Target would understand the brilliance that is this invention, my life would be complete (and so so so much easier).
The only downside is close proximity to each other does allow for easy hair pulling. And as I have yet to break down and cut either one of their hair, there is quite a bit of real estate there. But the positive is that Sarah is an adorable big sister who loves snuggling with Liam when he gets upset. I'm not sure if it helps, but she loves putting her arm around him and saying "It's ok buddy" over and over again.
So when I have both kids and need to get more than just a couple things it's off to Wegmans. Or Costco, as they also have the two-seated shopping cart (and the added bonus of the giant cart where Sarah can sit in the back and fit along with the two kitchen sinks I inevitably buy). Now if only Target would understand the brilliance that is this invention, my life would be complete (and so so so much easier).
 |
| Their first time side by side. |
I am so glad I didn't get married in the era of pinterest....
So I'm not sure how this happened, but Liam turns 1 on Saturday! And though I must have been crazy choosing to have his party two days before school starts for the year, I've been spending the last couple of weeks planning a Very Hungry Caterpillar party (well, I say week, but I noticed today that I pinned my first party idea on Pinterest 10 months ago, so really I've been planning for a while?)
Oh well, Pinterest. Two years ago I found some online party depot, ordered a birthday party set with girlie jungle animals, filled out the invitations by hand, put a paper sign in our front yard and bought some balloons. I did cater the food and we had way too many people here, but it wasn't stressful. It was a celebration. But in the past three years, the mixed blessing that is Pinterest has entered the American lexicon. The framed pictures may have been sitting there for over a year, but Liam's "theme" to his nursery was the classic Eric Carle story, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (at least I have a crib sheet and color scheme that matches). So I guess early on I decided that the theme to his party would be the same. Oh yes, parties now have to have themes. So I figured out how to use Pinterest and started pinning things that I figured would never come to fruition. Caterpillar cupcake cake? Balloon sculpture? Month-by-month picture chain? English muffin pizzas in a caterpillar shape? Check, check, check and check. Then the party planning hit the fan and I had to figure out what I actually wanted to do/ versus what I could actually accomplish.
But the moral of this post is, this party planning has been somewhat stressful. It was worth it when my "Liam is Turning 1" candy bar wrappers looked adorable, or the month-by-month caterpillar makes me smile seeing how much he has grown, but I think the multitude of choices makes overachievers like me bite off more than I can chew (especially when school starts 48 hours later).
But it's fun. Really fun. Or else I wouldn't be doing it. But considering my incredible level of indecisiveness, I'm really glad I did not get married in the era of Pinterest. Instead of having celebrated our 6th anniversary, I may still have been ruminating over the different ways I could fold the napkins at the cocktail hour. But alas, I had to settle for magazines and blogs, and instead I could save my Pinterest obsession for Liam's first birthday. Or Sarah's third.....
Oh well, Pinterest. Two years ago I found some online party depot, ordered a birthday party set with girlie jungle animals, filled out the invitations by hand, put a paper sign in our front yard and bought some balloons. I did cater the food and we had way too many people here, but it wasn't stressful. It was a celebration. But in the past three years, the mixed blessing that is Pinterest has entered the American lexicon. The framed pictures may have been sitting there for over a year, but Liam's "theme" to his nursery was the classic Eric Carle story, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (at least I have a crib sheet and color scheme that matches). So I guess early on I decided that the theme to his party would be the same. Oh yes, parties now have to have themes. So I figured out how to use Pinterest and started pinning things that I figured would never come to fruition. Caterpillar cupcake cake? Balloon sculpture? Month-by-month picture chain? English muffin pizzas in a caterpillar shape? Check, check, check and check. Then the party planning hit the fan and I had to figure out what I actually wanted to do/ versus what I could actually accomplish.
But the moral of this post is, this party planning has been somewhat stressful. It was worth it when my "Liam is Turning 1" candy bar wrappers looked adorable, or the month-by-month caterpillar makes me smile seeing how much he has grown, but I think the multitude of choices makes overachievers like me bite off more than I can chew (especially when school starts 48 hours later).
But it's fun. Really fun. Or else I wouldn't be doing it. But considering my incredible level of indecisiveness, I'm really glad I did not get married in the era of Pinterest. Instead of having celebrated our 6th anniversary, I may still have been ruminating over the different ways I could fold the napkins at the cocktail hour. But alas, I had to settle for magazines and blogs, and instead I could save my Pinterest obsession for Liam's first birthday. Or Sarah's third.....
Monday, August 19, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Naming William Andrew
I recently had lunch with a friend who was expecting her second child, and she asked me how we came to name Liam. Though I could recount the story quite well now, the more adorable things my children do, and the further removed I am from my moderate hospital meltdown that resulted from trying to name my son, the more I realized I should write this down while I still remember.
First off, I feel naming a boy was much more difficult than naming a girl. There were far fewer names that I would consider for a boy. With a girl, I feel you can be a bit more creative. Even though we ended up with a super traditional name, that was by choice. And though social norms may change in the next thirty years (or she may never get married), the name we gave Sarah may not even be her name for her entire life. As attached as I was to Lynn, I gave that up to hold on to my maiden name. So there is a feeling of permanence associated with naming a boy that gives me, the person who can't even decide where to go to dinner, pause.
So these were my rules for naming my son.
1) The name could not me monosyllabic. I just didn't like the way two monosyllabic names flowed when said together. T.J. and I both like the name John, but I don't like the way "John Flynn" sounds together.
2) It couldn't end in an "in" sound. One of the reasons I am not Jen Lynn Flynn is, well, say that out loud. And it's amazing the number of boy names that end with an "in" sound. Evan. Nathan. Kevin. Ryan. Brayden. etc. etc. etc.
3) It couldn't have negative associations with former students. In case this blog is ever found by said former students, I won't mention the names that were ruled out, but a couple names that did not violate rule 1 or 2 were ruled out by rule 3.
4) The default name could not be a nickname. I like the name Timothy, but you don't know many Timothy's in the real world, only Tim's. Same for Alexander, Benjamin (though this also violates rule 2) and Nathanial's. Not like I mind if my son went by a nickname (I feel most boys do) but I didn't want to have to go by a nickname
5) Like naming Sarah, it couldn't be too popular. Though as the number of names has increased, the frequency of any particular popular name has decreased, so this is the least important rule.
If you're having a child at any point in the future, don't let them tell you you cannot leave the hospital without a name. Not true, you may need to pay $50 later to register it,but it is possible. After Liam was born, the nurse asked what his name was, and though we had had 30 weeks to try to think of a name, we still had no name. I was pushing for Andrew in homage to my maiden name, and even told that to the nurse in the delivery room, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized there were still too many Andrews in my life to have another Andrew. So Friday night came, and the registrar came, and we had no name. And Saturday morning came, no name. Saturday night, still baby boy. Sarah came to visit and was calling him "baby baby" and I realized we should probably have a name lest Sarah call him "baby" for the rest of her life. Sunday morning, no name. Sunday afternoon an Irish nurse came in (for an unrelated reason) and T.J. asked her what some popular Irish names were. Her response was Liam, William, and Seamus. Well, I ruled out Seamus immediately. We both liked Liam, but being a Jennifer born in 1979 I worried it was too trendy. And then T.J. pointed out that Liam was a legitimate nickname for WilLIAM. We kept the Andrew as a family name and though there were tears as a signed the paper (was it hormones? Exhaustion? And I'm still not 100% sure we made the right decision, but can you ever be sure about anything?) but thus was named Little Liam.
So the friend I had lunch with asked if I violated my own rule 4 by naming Liam a nickname. I rationalized it by saying he doesn't "have" to be Liam. He can be a Liam, or a Bill or William or Will. I'm still not sure he knows his own name as daycare calls him William, I call him Liam, Sarah calls him "Eeum" and T.J. calls him Billy. But he will learn his name one day. Whatever he chooses to call himself, at least he can read this and realized we tried our best.
First off, I feel naming a boy was much more difficult than naming a girl. There were far fewer names that I would consider for a boy. With a girl, I feel you can be a bit more creative. Even though we ended up with a super traditional name, that was by choice. And though social norms may change in the next thirty years (or she may never get married), the name we gave Sarah may not even be her name for her entire life. As attached as I was to Lynn, I gave that up to hold on to my maiden name. So there is a feeling of permanence associated with naming a boy that gives me, the person who can't even decide where to go to dinner, pause.
So these were my rules for naming my son.
1) The name could not me monosyllabic. I just didn't like the way two monosyllabic names flowed when said together. T.J. and I both like the name John, but I don't like the way "John Flynn" sounds together.
2) It couldn't end in an "in" sound. One of the reasons I am not Jen Lynn Flynn is, well, say that out loud. And it's amazing the number of boy names that end with an "in" sound. Evan. Nathan. Kevin. Ryan. Brayden. etc. etc. etc.
3) It couldn't have negative associations with former students. In case this blog is ever found by said former students, I won't mention the names that were ruled out, but a couple names that did not violate rule 1 or 2 were ruled out by rule 3.
4) The default name could not be a nickname. I like the name Timothy, but you don't know many Timothy's in the real world, only Tim's. Same for Alexander, Benjamin (though this also violates rule 2) and Nathanial's. Not like I mind if my son went by a nickname (I feel most boys do) but I didn't want to have to go by a nickname
5) Like naming Sarah, it couldn't be too popular. Though as the number of names has increased, the frequency of any particular popular name has decreased, so this is the least important rule.
If you're having a child at any point in the future, don't let them tell you you cannot leave the hospital without a name. Not true, you may need to pay $50 later to register it,but it is possible. After Liam was born, the nurse asked what his name was, and though we had had 30 weeks to try to think of a name, we still had no name. I was pushing for Andrew in homage to my maiden name, and even told that to the nurse in the delivery room, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized there were still too many Andrews in my life to have another Andrew. So Friday night came, and the registrar came, and we had no name. And Saturday morning came, no name. Saturday night, still baby boy. Sarah came to visit and was calling him "baby baby" and I realized we should probably have a name lest Sarah call him "baby" for the rest of her life. Sunday morning, no name. Sunday afternoon an Irish nurse came in (for an unrelated reason) and T.J. asked her what some popular Irish names were. Her response was Liam, William, and Seamus. Well, I ruled out Seamus immediately. We both liked Liam, but being a Jennifer born in 1979 I worried it was too trendy. And then T.J. pointed out that Liam was a legitimate nickname for WilLIAM. We kept the Andrew as a family name and though there were tears as a signed the paper (was it hormones? Exhaustion? And I'm still not 100% sure we made the right decision, but can you ever be sure about anything?) but thus was named Little Liam.
So the friend I had lunch with asked if I violated my own rule 4 by naming Liam a nickname. I rationalized it by saying he doesn't "have" to be Liam. He can be a Liam, or a Bill or William or Will. I'm still not sure he knows his own name as daycare calls him William, I call him Liam, Sarah calls him "Eeum" and T.J. calls him Billy. But he will learn his name one day. Whatever he chooses to call himself, at least he can read this and realized we tried our best.
Seben
I'm in no rush for my children to grow up. I (try) to cherish every moment of this snuggly phase, knowing full well that there will come a time where Sarah will no longer try to stall going to bed in order to have few more "nuggles" (snuggles) on the couch with me. But at the same time, I've started worrying about not facilitating baby habits in Sarah, especially as she starts "school" in two weeks. Sarah is incredibly verbal, but there are some words she still says in an adorable, and yet, not proper way. I've noticed she's already started to correct some of these and though it makes me proud how she's starting to talk like a big girl, it makes me sad to realize she's, well, starting to talk like a big girl. Though these posts are more infrequent than I planned or would have liked, it's amazing how much I've managed to forget in the past three years, and how much reading these posts have helped me remember and smile. I recently read my post about translating baby Sarah, and I wanted to write down her toddler speak. And though she is much more comprehensible now, she still has some idiosyncrasies that I both hope she outgrows and hope she retains for ever.
The letter "v". I'm surprised she even knows it's in the alphabet or recognizes it on a piece of paper. Seven = seben, everybody = ebeebody, five = five? (ok, I can't follow the trend there either). And speaking of numbers...
The substitution of "f" for all sorts of letter blends. Three = free, Granddad = Frandad.
And then the adding of letter blends where they don't belong. When she wants you to pick her up (or hang on to her in the ocean) she asks you to "holch me" (instead of hold me).
Then there are the one offs, like the aforementioned "nuggle". I'm sure there are many more that I can't think of right now (and might be edit worthy at some point in the future) but if we go on vacation next year and Sarah asks to go back to the hotel after dinner, I want to be able to remember that this year she asked for the "huhtel" after a day at the beach.
Update: How could I forget two of my favorite "Sarah"isms! I love how she wants to stay in the "tubtub" (bathtub) to dry off. Why? "puzz" (because!)
The letter "v". I'm surprised she even knows it's in the alphabet or recognizes it on a piece of paper. Seven = seben, everybody = ebeebody, five = five? (ok, I can't follow the trend there either). And speaking of numbers...
The substitution of "f" for all sorts of letter blends. Three = free, Granddad = Frandad.
And then the adding of letter blends where they don't belong. When she wants you to pick her up (or hang on to her in the ocean) she asks you to "holch me" (instead of hold me).
Then there are the one offs, like the aforementioned "nuggle". I'm sure there are many more that I can't think of right now (and might be edit worthy at some point in the future) but if we go on vacation next year and Sarah asks to go back to the hotel after dinner, I want to be able to remember that this year she asked for the "huhtel" after a day at the beach.
Update: How could I forget two of my favorite "Sarah"isms! I love how she wants to stay in the "tubtub" (bathtub) to dry off. Why? "puzz" (because!)
Monday, July 8, 2013
Me Too Mommy!
So Liam is crawling, and recently started cruising, but though he is hitting milestones far quicker than Sarah, I figured I should record her goings on for posterity as well (though considering our biggest accomplishment right now is working on potty training, I won't put in too many details for fear of future 16 year old petulant Sarah). I love the fact that I have a little person to hang out with now. Not that babies aren't fun, and playing peek-a-boo over the steps isn't enough to occupy me for hours (no, it really is) but I love the fact that I can have real conversations with my (gasp!) almost 3 year old. In regards to my singing at the Capital 4th last week.
Sarah: Mommy, where are you going?
Me: I'm going to sing.
Sarah: What are you going to sing?
Me: Oh, the Star Spangled Banner and the Lion King (we "ooohed" Can You Feel the Love Tonight?)
Sarah: Ohhhh, I like that song.
Next day:
Sarah: I saw you on TV with Daddy on the couch singing Lion King.
Me: You did?
Sarah: Liam was asleep in his crib and I was "nuggling" on the couch with Daddy.
I love the fact she is her own person. Though her fierce independence means it often takes two to three times as long as I would like to leave the house (often because we're buckeled into the car seat when she informs me that then is the time to go potty) I love the fact she tries to remember her left and right when it comes to shoes, enjoys washing her own hands (even though it often makes a giant mess). I love the fact that she twirls in a dress and after spinning around five or ten times announces to anyone who will listen "Wow, I'm dizzy". I love the fact that she sometimes comes up to me and says "Mommy, I like your dress" or "You're so pretty". And I really love the fact she is a wonderful big sister. She loves to help dress him, get his binky, hug him, walk him like a dog (ok, that's strange, but today he had a loose shirt on, and as he craweld around the kitchen, she held on to the back of his shirt and said, look Mommy, I'm walking the doggie!). I love the fact that she wants him to be happy. If Liam starts to cry while in the car, before I can even say anything I hear Sarah saying in a quiet, reassuring voice "It's ok, Mommy's still here".
And I know equally reassuring to him is that Sarah is still there too.
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| Future's So Bright... |
Monday, June 17, 2013
Chaos Reigns
I may post about this at a future date, but I was incredibly fortunate to find a fabulous group of women in the hospital mommy's group soon after Liam. There are 8 babies that Liam is "friends" with, and 7 of them are born within I think 11 days of each other. It's been so much fun seeing them grow up together, but there is the ineviable side effect of comparing where your child is to everyone else, and it's even harder when you know these other babies are litereally the same age as your child. A couple weeks ago we were all together having dinner, and of the six children there, 3 were first children and 3 were second children, and the 3 first chidlren were crawling around, while the three little siblings were just sitting. At first I was worried, and then I remembered how much things change when they start to crawl. No longer can you just plop them on your bed while you go to the bathroom or answer the phone. You have to start to worry about little things on the floor that suddenly become baby magnets (and this has been even more difficult this time as Sarah loves playing with little things, like, no joke, marbles and pennies). So as anxious as I was, I was glad I got to delay the worrying a bit longer.
Well, as the point of the blog (and this blog reboot) was the document "milestones" in my chidlrens lives, and I have no idea when Sarah began crawling, I figure I should mention that yes, Liam is now on the move. He began spinning on his tummy a couple weeks ago, and then the end of May be managed to get up on all fours and rock back and forth. And then I left town for a week to grade AP exams, and yes, the biggest fear of all working parents came true - you miss a milestone because you're at work. Luckily, Liam was at my parents house this particular night, and I saw my son crawl for the first time, June 5th, via FaceTime.
Update: In the past week and a half I've been home this child moves like a champ. He also seems to have no fear as he crawls over and under and through things to get what he wants (which is often the smallest or most dangerous thing in the room). Though he may have some friends already walking, now that I remember how difficult being mobile is, Liam can wait at least as long as Sarah did (which this one I do remember, she was 14 months). He's far better now than the video below shows, but this was my first attempt at catching it on my first day back. This video was only taken 10 days ago, and while re-watching it now, I'm amazed at how quickly things change.
And back to the title of this post - I now think this is the most difficult part of having two children thus far. My eldest is not quite yet self sufficient, and my youngest is no longer portable. Therefore I am really doubly needed at all times. My entire life is often one big giant chaotic mess, but I'm also having a blast.
Well, as the point of the blog (and this blog reboot) was the document "milestones" in my chidlrens lives, and I have no idea when Sarah began crawling, I figure I should mention that yes, Liam is now on the move. He began spinning on his tummy a couple weeks ago, and then the end of May be managed to get up on all fours and rock back and forth. And then I left town for a week to grade AP exams, and yes, the biggest fear of all working parents came true - you miss a milestone because you're at work. Luckily, Liam was at my parents house this particular night, and I saw my son crawl for the first time, June 5th, via FaceTime.
Update: In the past week and a half I've been home this child moves like a champ. He also seems to have no fear as he crawls over and under and through things to get what he wants (which is often the smallest or most dangerous thing in the room). Though he may have some friends already walking, now that I remember how difficult being mobile is, Liam can wait at least as long as Sarah did (which this one I do remember, she was 14 months). He's far better now than the video below shows, but this was my first attempt at catching it on my first day back. This video was only taken 10 days ago, and while re-watching it now, I'm amazed at how quickly things change.
And back to the title of this post - I now think this is the most difficult part of having two children thus far. My eldest is not quite yet self sufficient, and my youngest is no longer portable. Therefore I am really doubly needed at all times. My entire life is often one big giant chaotic mess, but I'm also having a blast.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
And Then There Were Two....
I guess if this is supposed to chronicle the lives of both my children, I might as well add the story of how Liam was almost not born at the hospital (ok, slight exaggeration). Sarah was born right on time. I went into labor the day before, but she came right on her due date. I knew I was due right around the beginning of the school year, but I wanted to have as much time after the baby was born to stay home, so I was planning on working right until the end. And anyways, I was in labor for almost 24 hours with Sarah, so I thought I'd have plenty of time.
The third day of school, one of my students asked me what would happen if my water broke during class, and I tried to reassure here that wouldn't happen, and that there would be plenty of time. That night my sister came over, we had some fabulous Greek food, and I went to bed. Woke up the next morning (day 5 of the school year) feeling a little odd, so I mentioned to T.J. that he may want to stay near the phone today. Went to school, feeling pretty good, a little off, perhaps a bit of indigestion, took attendance, all was well. Then I realized that my indigestion was somewhat regular. So just for giggles, I started to time my (later identified as) contractions. No biggie, 5 minutes apart, but only lasting for about 30 seconds. But being somewhat risk averse, I decided to go home, mentioning to my guidance supervisor that if nothing happened I'd be back that afternoon. While driving home, I had my first identifiable contraction, so I called T.J. at work, told him to come on home, and hopped in the tub. While relaxing, I called the doctor, and mentioned my contractions were 2ish minutes apart, but only lasting 30 seconds. They said I should probably come in, so when T.J. came home I told him what to... whoa, was that my water breaking? This was new. So my nonchalant let's get to the hospital when we can became "let's get to the hospital now". I left work around 10:20, got home about 11:00, my water broke at 11:22 and I checked into the hospital at 12:04.
And Liam was born at 1:15. But I was pushing by 12:30. Without drugs (not planned), but that's what happens when you go from 4cm (when checking in) to 10cm (15 minutes later). Whoops. Just for posterity, I do want to add that on his way out he did something to my back which lead me to be in more pain that night than my accidental unmedicated labor, but 9 months later, all is (almost) well and clearly he is 115% worth it.
So introducing, very very belatedly William Andrew Flynn.
The third day of school, one of my students asked me what would happen if my water broke during class, and I tried to reassure here that wouldn't happen, and that there would be plenty of time. That night my sister came over, we had some fabulous Greek food, and I went to bed. Woke up the next morning (day 5 of the school year) feeling a little odd, so I mentioned to T.J. that he may want to stay near the phone today. Went to school, feeling pretty good, a little off, perhaps a bit of indigestion, took attendance, all was well. Then I realized that my indigestion was somewhat regular. So just for giggles, I started to time my (later identified as) contractions. No biggie, 5 minutes apart, but only lasting for about 30 seconds. But being somewhat risk averse, I decided to go home, mentioning to my guidance supervisor that if nothing happened I'd be back that afternoon. While driving home, I had my first identifiable contraction, so I called T.J. at work, told him to come on home, and hopped in the tub. While relaxing, I called the doctor, and mentioned my contractions were 2ish minutes apart, but only lasting 30 seconds. They said I should probably come in, so when T.J. came home I told him what to... whoa, was that my water breaking? This was new. So my nonchalant let's get to the hospital when we can became "let's get to the hospital now". I left work around 10:20, got home about 11:00, my water broke at 11:22 and I checked into the hospital at 12:04.
And Liam was born at 1:15. But I was pushing by 12:30. Without drugs (not planned), but that's what happens when you go from 4cm (when checking in) to 10cm (15 minutes later). Whoops. Just for posterity, I do want to add that on his way out he did something to my back which lead me to be in more pain that night than my accidental unmedicated labor, but 9 months later, all is (almost) well and clearly he is 115% worth it.
So introducing, very very belatedly William Andrew Flynn.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Let's Try This Again (Take 3)
The little icon when I went to login to this today told me my last post was May 4th, 2012. I think I had just about given up on this whole blogging thing (especially since it is just for me) but then I realized I have no idea when Sarah started to crawl. I think by the time we started Gymboree in August she was crawling at 10 months, and I know she started to walk on my birthday/ Thanksgiving day, but I have no idea when she started to crawl. So I have no idea if Liam is (not) crawling earlier or later than his sister.
Oh yeah, Sarah has a brother. His name is William (Liam) Andrew and he was born August 31st, 2012, 8 lbs 11.2 oz and 21". I'll have to do a post on him later, but until then...(no, he looks nothing like that now!)
But back to the point of this restart, before I go and continue grading papers, I don't know when Sarah got teeth, I don't know when she started crawling, or even when her vocabulary exploded so much. And I think that was the point of this blog when I started it. I know she has many many more milestones to reach (as does Liam) so I figured I'd give this one (more) try. I'm not playing Candy Crush, and now that school is over maybe I can use my (rapidly shortening) extra time doing this instead.
But the quick milestone update, Sarah walks, talks talks talks talks! and has great imaginative play. Not quite potty trained yet (I know she'll love that update when she's older) but we keep trying with "two candies" or stickers. Liam does not crawl, but he rotates, rocks on all fours and has two teeth. At this point I think he'll walk before he crawls because he loves to be standing up. Another idea for a future post will be differences between a first and second child, but the one I'll note now is enjoying this lack of movement. With Sarah I was all about moving, with him, I know the terror that happens with two dogs and a baby on the loose, so I'll take the stationary phase while I can.
My next post probably won't be until school is over, but it is coming. I promise (I hope)
Oh yeah, Sarah has a brother. His name is William (Liam) Andrew and he was born August 31st, 2012, 8 lbs 11.2 oz and 21". I'll have to do a post on him later, but until then...(no, he looks nothing like that now!)
But back to the point of this restart, before I go and continue grading papers, I don't know when Sarah got teeth, I don't know when she started crawling, or even when her vocabulary exploded so much. And I think that was the point of this blog when I started it. I know she has many many more milestones to reach (as does Liam) so I figured I'd give this one (more) try. I'm not playing Candy Crush, and now that school is over maybe I can use my (rapidly shortening) extra time doing this instead.
But the quick milestone update, Sarah walks, talks talks talks talks! and has great imaginative play. Not quite potty trained yet (I know she'll love that update when she's older) but we keep trying with "two candies" or stickers. Liam does not crawl, but he rotates, rocks on all fours and has two teeth. At this point I think he'll walk before he crawls because he loves to be standing up. Another idea for a future post will be differences between a first and second child, but the one I'll note now is enjoying this lack of movement. With Sarah I was all about moving, with him, I know the terror that happens with two dogs and a baby on the loose, so I'll take the stationary phase while I can.
My next post probably won't be until school is over, but it is coming. I promise (I hope)
Friday, May 4, 2012
A Musician Like Her Mom
When Sarah was little she would listen to whatever I wanted to in the car, which was more often than not, NPR (Morning Edition on the way to work, All Things Considered on the way home). When she was about 1, she started to protest the talk radio, and luckily we had recently acquired a mix of kids music from a first birthday party, so my ride to work shifted from Renee Montange to Raffi and The Wheels on the Bus. Where before she let me know she was sick of my radio choices by becoming a bit fussy, she now actually requests songs when she gets into the car. We have the "ahh ahh" song (If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops, oh what a life that would be. I'd stand outside with my mouth open wide, ahh ahh ahh ahh..... etc.), the "tut tut" song (A peanut sat on a railroad track... and the train ultimately goes "toot toot"), and "nana" (I'd like to eat, apples and bananas). In addition, she can clap, nod, spin, and stomp along with if you're happy and you know it, and repeats some words (such as yummy and whoa) from others. It's to the point now where as soon as we get in the car, if I put on anything (even other kids cd's) she continues to say "ahh ahh" until I put on the song she wants to hear. And as soon as a song is over she says "more" in a pseudo British accent letting me know that we need more music, now. Adorable side note, she hasn't quite figured out that she is supposed to sing along with the songs, she "ahh ahh" or "tut tut"'s after the appropriate part in the song.
I did realize yesterday though that I should probably start to more closely monitor what she's watching/listening to. She does pick up and mimic very well now, and though it made for an excellent episode of Modern Family, I'd prefer that her vocabulary at this point remained limited to body parts, animal sounds and foods.
I did realize yesterday though that I should probably start to more closely monitor what she's watching/listening to. She does pick up and mimic very well now, and though it made for an excellent episode of Modern Family, I'd prefer that her vocabulary at this point remained limited to body parts, animal sounds and foods.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Words
At her doctor appointment today (where I learned that Sarah is a giant baby in the 82nd percentile for weight, 80th for height and 90th for head) the doctor asked me what words she was saying. Apparently the average at 18 months is 4-14, and babies that grow up in bilingual environments tend to have delayed speech, but even so I realized I wanted to start compiling a list of words that Sarah "knows" as of 18 months.
(In no particular order other than the order T.J. and I remember them while also watching the Blackhawks game...)
Mama
Dada
Nana
Doggie
Oh no!
Mine
Mah (more)
Chicka (Chicken)
Abble (apple... though this is in the abstract... she doesn't like apples and I'm not sure she knows it applies to juice)
Hola
Bye Bye (as of this past weekend)
Eye
Nos (nose)
aibane (airplane)
Ouch
Then we have the words that have a few meanings....
Kuck (truck and stuck)
Ah Dee (All done, but can also be Auntie and Andi, a friend at daycare)
Baby (baby, but also Bailey)
Bebe (Binky, often shorted to "bee" but also Toby)
And of course, there are the animal sounds...
We used to know kitty cats went "meow meow meow" but we seem to have forgotten that
But the dogs go "Ruff ruff"
Cows go "moooo"
and Ducks go "Quack"
Her favorite current book is "Moo, Baa, La La La" and she can fill in most of the animal sounds at this point. If the multiple times a night reading of this book continues, I suspect we'll add horse, sheep, and rhinoceros to our animal noise repertoire.
(In no particular order other than the order T.J. and I remember them while also watching the Blackhawks game...)
Mama
Dada
Nana
Doggie
Oh no!
Mine
Mah (more)
Chicka (Chicken)
Abble (apple... though this is in the abstract... she doesn't like apples and I'm not sure she knows it applies to juice)
Hola
Bye Bye (as of this past weekend)
Eye
Nos (nose)
aibane (airplane)
Ouch
Then we have the words that have a few meanings....
Kuck (truck and stuck)
Ah Dee (All done, but can also be Auntie and Andi, a friend at daycare)
Baby (baby, but also Bailey)
Bebe (Binky, often shorted to "bee" but also Toby)
And of course, there are the animal sounds...
We used to know kitty cats went "meow meow meow" but we seem to have forgotten that
But the dogs go "Ruff ruff"
Cows go "moooo"
and Ducks go "Quack"
Her favorite current book is "Moo, Baa, La La La" and she can fill in most of the animal sounds at this point. If the multiple times a night reading of this book continues, I suspect we'll add horse, sheep, and rhinoceros to our animal noise repertoire.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Dipping Sauce
Two things Sarah has always been is a good sleeper and a good eater. Someone asked me the other day when she first slept through the night, and though I can't remember exactly when it was, I know by the time I went back to work in January she was sleeping quite well, and I suspect it was well before that. She's gotten to the point now where she sleeps 11 - 12 hours every night, regardless of when she goes to bed. She's even gotten to the point where if she's tired enough she'll go to the gate at the bottom of the stairs, say "ah dee" (all done) and walk herself upstairs, lay down and go right to sleep without fussing. I know, I know, I'm extraordinarily lucky.
She's also always been a good eater (one of my first posts on this blog commented just on that fact) but perhaps it is the impending "terrible twos" but recently she's sometimes let me know what she wants and what she doesn't (goldfish, yes, cheerios, no). Even old staples like grilled chicken are often passed over for an extra serving of yogurt or peas. And yes, at least at this point in her life, a serving of yogurt or corn can pass as dessert to one who does not know better. In order to attempt to stem this tide of picky eating, we recently introduced the idea of "dipping sauce". The other night we had turkey burgers for dinner that wasn't going over too well with my little eater. As one cannot subsist on legumes alone, I pulled out ketchup and tried to see if that would get her to eat better. See below for evidence!
Not the cleanest experience ever, but a protein enriching one. Last weekend when we were out of town, my mom told me that Sarah was dipping her fake peanut butter sandwich into her yogurt. I guess she learns quickly.
She's also always been a good eater (one of my first posts on this blog commented just on that fact) but perhaps it is the impending "terrible twos" but recently she's sometimes let me know what she wants and what she doesn't (goldfish, yes, cheerios, no). Even old staples like grilled chicken are often passed over for an extra serving of yogurt or peas. And yes, at least at this point in her life, a serving of yogurt or corn can pass as dessert to one who does not know better. In order to attempt to stem this tide of picky eating, we recently introduced the idea of "dipping sauce". The other night we had turkey burgers for dinner that wasn't going over too well with my little eater. As one cannot subsist on legumes alone, I pulled out ketchup and tried to see if that would get her to eat better. See below for evidence!
Not the cleanest experience ever, but a protein enriching one. Last weekend when we were out of town, my mom told me that Sarah was dipping her fake peanut butter sandwich into her yogurt. I guess she learns quickly.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
How Blogging is Like Dieting
I waste a lot of time every day. Scanning facebook, reading the news online, catching up on trashy reality shows, and yet I for some reason haven't had time to keep this updated. Until I woke up last night in the same panic that caused me to start this almost a year ago, that so much is happening in Sarah's life that is not being documented and though I clearly remember it now, who knows how much I'll remember in 10 years and 10 kids later (ok, hopefully that second is not true).
So how is blogging like a diet? If you're on a diet, and then you eat poorly for lunch one day, you just keep eating poorly because you feel you've already fallen off the wagon, so why bother starting eating healthy now. I figured I was so far behind on this that why bother starting to write again, it just wasn't worth it at this point. Until I realized that every day Sarah continues to do new and amazing things. And though I'm sure I've missed some minute details that won't be reported here, that doesn't mean that she won't continue to amaze me. And actually the older she gets the more adorable things that she does. If I tried to summarize everything that she's done in the past 5 months it would be a ridiculous post (and though I know only a few people read this, I'm thinking of myself reading this in the future). So I guess I start with where she is now, and as it is spring break and hopefully I'll have some time this week, maybe I'll try to go back and find some cute pictures and update on the past. Or, like a diet I can't fix the past, but I can keep up with the future.
So where are we now. Sarah has 12 teeth (four on top, four on bottom, though her bottom right one outside the middle just came in even after four molars). She understands almost everything I ask her to do, but her spoken language is still limited to "doggie", "ah dee" (all done), "baaa" (baby) "ouf" (out) "uh oh", and "choof" (shoe). She still loves to play peek-a-boo (it can entertain us in the car, that mirror that allows me to see her was a fabulous purchase!) though pointing out body parts is a fun game too (so far we're up to head (which was first), nose, ear, eye, toes, and tummy, complete with lifting up her shirt).
Though the last post I had was her first steps on her birthday, she started walking for real on Thanksgiving. For months she was good at toddling around holding on to just my one finger, so when she decided it was time to walk she took off and hasn't stopped since. She now not only walks, but runs, climbs ladders, crawls up and down stairs (though recently she has taken to wanting to walk down stairs, which makes me exceptionally nervous). She still LOVES playing with the dogs, and asks for them first thing in the morning (after greeting us with throwing her bunny out of her crib with a big "uh oh").
So much more has happened I'm sure, but this seems long enough for now! Sarah, I'm sorry I haven't kept up with this. I PROMISE to be better this spring... or at least if I fall off the wagon I promise to try to get back on.
So how is blogging like a diet? If you're on a diet, and then you eat poorly for lunch one day, you just keep eating poorly because you feel you've already fallen off the wagon, so why bother starting eating healthy now. I figured I was so far behind on this that why bother starting to write again, it just wasn't worth it at this point. Until I realized that every day Sarah continues to do new and amazing things. And though I'm sure I've missed some minute details that won't be reported here, that doesn't mean that she won't continue to amaze me. And actually the older she gets the more adorable things that she does. If I tried to summarize everything that she's done in the past 5 months it would be a ridiculous post (and though I know only a few people read this, I'm thinking of myself reading this in the future). So I guess I start with where she is now, and as it is spring break and hopefully I'll have some time this week, maybe I'll try to go back and find some cute pictures and update on the past. Or, like a diet I can't fix the past, but I can keep up with the future.
So where are we now. Sarah has 12 teeth (four on top, four on bottom, though her bottom right one outside the middle just came in even after four molars). She understands almost everything I ask her to do, but her spoken language is still limited to "doggie", "ah dee" (all done), "baaa" (baby) "ouf" (out) "uh oh", and "choof" (shoe). She still loves to play peek-a-boo (it can entertain us in the car, that mirror that allows me to see her was a fabulous purchase!) though pointing out body parts is a fun game too (so far we're up to head (which was first), nose, ear, eye, toes, and tummy, complete with lifting up her shirt).
Though the last post I had was her first steps on her birthday, she started walking for real on Thanksgiving. For months she was good at toddling around holding on to just my one finger, so when she decided it was time to walk she took off and hasn't stopped since. She now not only walks, but runs, climbs ladders, crawls up and down stairs (though recently she has taken to wanting to walk down stairs, which makes me exceptionally nervous). She still LOVES playing with the dogs, and asks for them first thing in the morning (after greeting us with throwing her bunny out of her crib with a big "uh oh").
So much more has happened I'm sure, but this seems long enough for now! Sarah, I'm sorry I haven't kept up with this. I PROMISE to be better this spring... or at least if I fall off the wagon I promise to try to get back on.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Happy Birthday to Me
I was listening to a commercial on the radio the other day about weight loss (I think it was acutually a commercial for Aetna or Kaiser or something like that) and it said that even if you take two steps forward and one step back, that is still one step forward, and that is progress, and not to think too poorly of yourself if you fell off the wagon, because you did still make forward progress. I'm taking that to heart not just in terms of my exercise program, but also in terms of this blog. So I haven't written in 2 months. That doesn't mean I should stop now, especially since so many exciting things are happening.
I may do a totally seperate post for the fact that Sarah is now 1! We had a fabulous party with fabulous family and friends in town, but hopefully I'll get around to writing more about that later. So instead I'll focus on milestones we've reached since August 31st.
1) We now have 5 (1/2) teeth. Two on the bottom and pretty much four on top (though one is stubborn and doesn't want to pop through)
2) Our vocabulary has expanded. Her first word was "doggie" (which she can now apply to more than Bailey and Toby. When we see dogs on the street, hear dogs barking, or even see pictures of dogs in books or our friends dressed up as dogs on Halloween, all gets the Sarah point and "doggie"... though she may have thought a chicken was a dog as well?). Other words we've mastered are "day day" (dad), mmmmmum (mom), ah oh (uh oh), ah gee (all gone) and "alley" (hello, often with a phone held to her ear)
3) We've been attending Gymboree together, and unfortunately the entire world does not have mats below it such as it at Gymboree. Gymboree has taught Sarah lots of climbing skills - however, this doesn't stop Sarah from lunging off furniture, with no abandon to how high it is. She has however begun going off some things feet first... some things.
4) Few foods are an obstacle anymore. Though dinner most often consists of chicken (though she prefers the "fake" morning star farm tenders to real ones), vegetable (green beans are her favorite) and a fruit (bananas please!) she did have her first piece of pizza last night.
5) Sarah has become a pro (almost) walker - first with her dinosaur, then with a single finger of mommy or daddy, and today she took three steps by herself! Before when I would let go she would just stand there hovering, but today when I let go she kept going! She may have even gone further, but I was so excited a scooped her up and gave her the biggest hug. What a fabulous birthday gift from Sarah!
I'm sure I'm missing some major or minor accomplishments, but hopefully I'll keep up with this blog more often to record them. But first steps are something I wanted down in writing... not like I would forget the best 32nd birthday gift ever.
I may do a totally seperate post for the fact that Sarah is now 1! We had a fabulous party with fabulous family and friends in town, but hopefully I'll get around to writing more about that later. So instead I'll focus on milestones we've reached since August 31st.
1) We now have 5 (1/2) teeth. Two on the bottom and pretty much four on top (though one is stubborn and doesn't want to pop through)
2) Our vocabulary has expanded. Her first word was "doggie" (which she can now apply to more than Bailey and Toby. When we see dogs on the street, hear dogs barking, or even see pictures of dogs in books or our friends dressed up as dogs on Halloween, all gets the Sarah point and "doggie"... though she may have thought a chicken was a dog as well?). Other words we've mastered are "day day" (dad), mmmmmum (mom), ah oh (uh oh), ah gee (all gone) and "alley" (hello, often with a phone held to her ear)
3) We've been attending Gymboree together, and unfortunately the entire world does not have mats below it such as it at Gymboree. Gymboree has taught Sarah lots of climbing skills - however, this doesn't stop Sarah from lunging off furniture, with no abandon to how high it is. She has however begun going off some things feet first... some things.
4) Few foods are an obstacle anymore. Though dinner most often consists of chicken (though she prefers the "fake" morning star farm tenders to real ones), vegetable (green beans are her favorite) and a fruit (bananas please!) she did have her first piece of pizza last night.
5) Sarah has become a pro (almost) walker - first with her dinosaur, then with a single finger of mommy or daddy, and today she took three steps by herself! Before when I would let go she would just stand there hovering, but today when I let go she kept going! She may have even gone further, but I was so excited a scooped her up and gave her the biggest hug. What a fabulous birthday gift from Sarah!
I'm sure I'm missing some major or minor accomplishments, but hopefully I'll keep up with this blog more often to record them. But first steps are something I wanted down in writing... not like I would forget the best 32nd birthday gift ever.
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